Sunday, November 27, 2005

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree - What do I do for my toddler?

I'm dreading the idea of having a Christmas Tree this year. Grom is into EVERYTHING. I see a month or so of too many NOs and persistent redirection of an inquisitive 16 month old. Doesn't sound like fun to me - Christmas is stressful enough.

I'm looking for alternative ideas.

I've heard about Christmas Trees that hang from the ceiling upside down. It's all too weird for me. I understand the purpose is so that MORE presents can fit underneath. What is frugal about that?

I read about putting a baby gate all the way around the tree to keep baby out. I think that would look terrible. Another idea was to put up a tree outside on a deck - in view but out of reach.

I found this project - Christmas Tree Magnets. Grom just discovered magnets and I'm sure he'd have a ball arranging and rearranging them on the refrigerator.

While searching the net, I came up with a great idea. How about a Christmas Tree Mural for the wall. All I need is a big piece of butcher paper, some paint, some construction paper and a little creativity. We'll have a tree, some holiday decorations and less worries. I'll post a picture.

3 comments:

  1. Good luck on your mural. I would love to see it.

    I do have a question for you. I follow the news a lot and I hear a lot about this "war on Christmas" from people like O'Reilly and Gibson.

    Do you believe that is the case?

    I guess to me, if Wal-Mart wants to be "more inclusive" by saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" then who cares, right? I mean, I just feel like it is good business to be more inclusive and not to focus on one group, no matter how big.

    It really bothers me that these pundits write books and push to have things renamed to Christmas-this, Christmas-that. It is their business and they should run it how they think will be most beneficial.

    It troubles me and I hope not all Christians feel that there really is a "war on Christmas." It seems so pointless to get up in arms over "Happy Holidays" as you're leaving a Wal-Mart.

    Your thoughts?

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  2. There is a difference between being inclusive and exclusive.

    I would not be offended if a store had signs about other religious holidays. I'm not offended by Happy Holiday signs. I am offended when my holiday is removed. I have heard story after story about school "Holiday" programs that have Hannukah songs, Kwanza songs, Santa songs, but songs about Jesus are forbidden.

    Christmas has become very commercial. It's all about gifts, gifts and more gifts. Just the other day I saw a commercial about buying yourself the things you deserve, now. For a lot of Americans it's not about the birth of a Savior, it's about what you're going to get.

    As a Christian, I need to do whatever I can to keep Christ in everything I do to celebrate. I believe I am also to remind others that "Jesus is the reason for the season".

    I try to avoid saying Happy Holidays and instead favor Merry Christmas. I want to bring traditions to my family that glorify God and celebrate the birth of the One who would provide our salvation.

    I get to skirt the Santa Claus issue this year as Grom isn't old enough to know what's going on.

    Santa looks like it'll be a blog entry next year. sigh

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  3. We aren't having much of a problem with our guy. He has a few ornaments that he likes to take off the tree, but they are all non breakable. We put all the glass at the top.

    I've passed though on the Nativity scene and the Christmas village for this year...I just think he's not ready. Maybe next year.

    The first year we had our dogs though we had more tree troubles. During the week we would wrap our tree in a sheet to keep them from pilfering and destroying ornaments.

    As far as Santa. We are treating the him as a character - the same as winnie the pooh, elmo and the veggie tales. Santa doesn't visit our house, but we do wait until Christmas morning to put out the presents. He still doesn't understand, but that's the approach we will take.

    ReplyDelete