As the Christmas season begins, the buzz amongst mom's seems to be,
"How do I keep the baby/toddler from the Christmas Tree."
When my oldest was a baby, P and I considered all of the obvious possibilities. Should be put the glass ones on top? Should we buy a little tree and put it on a table? Or what about surrounding it with a play pen? As we were trying to figure out what to do, we finally just looked at each other and realized that we were making something out of nothing.
Even at 1 year old, he could handle a lot more than not touching the tree...so we decided to teach him. Christmas would come every year, he was going to have to learn at some point.
Just like with most things, it took about 3 days of consistent reminders and distraction for him to lose interest. Little C was the exact same and Mini C could care less.
Now that the older two are toddlers, they know the rules. They also know that with rules comes rewards and consequences. Those rewards (Santa coming) and consequences are laid out when we decorate the house. We also bought them a this absolutely annoying cute singing stocking that hangs in the playroom. They know that they CAN touch and play with that. So, when their fingers are feeling particularly needy for something Christmas...that's where we head!
So, this Christmas, I encourage you to decorate as you normally would. Use it as a teaching opportunity. Give them the opportunity to be proud of themselves when they listen. Definitely worth every teaching moment!
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