Celebrating the holidays with small children is filled with priceless moments. One of my favorite events of the holiday season has always been decorating the Christmas tree. I remember when I was a child how delighted I was to sit and enjoy the newly decorated tree while sipping a mug of hot chocolate.
When it comes to things like Christmas ornaments, I like balance and even distribution. The first year that the girls were old enough to really help decorate, I was quite distracted by their sweet enthusiasm. It took me a few minutes to realize that they were putting all the ornaments in the same small section of the tree.
Inwardly I cringed, but then I thought about it again. And as I looked at that tight cluster of ornaments, I had to smile. We continued decorating, and Phil and I placed our ornaments more strategically on the rest of the branches.
The girls were so happy with their work. They had carefully selected the ornaments from our collection and placed them on the tree. I could have come back later and redistributed them, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. And it was a good thing I didn't. The girls returned to that spot almost daily to look at "their" ornaments. Had I taken the cluster and "fixed" it, they would have noticed and been heartbroken. How horrible would that have been!
So what works for me during the holidays? Letting go of my expectations and desire for perfection and giving our kids a memorable, fun holiday season...and making sure they remember why we are celebrating. Okay, to be honest, I'm still working on it. But this year, one thing I know is that my sweet girls will be free to place the ornaments on whatever part of the tree they desire.
And if you have little ones, I highly recommend non-breakable ornaments. At our house, the ornaments get knocked off frequently, and it is so nice not to have to worry about glass shattering on the floor when they fall!
For more WFMW Holiday Tips, visit We Are THAT Family.
- Erin
