A year ago at this time, my son was just starting to walk. So installing the typical holiday furnishings was an invitation for disaster.

He’s learned a lot in the last year of his life (for example, he’s graduated to running, nonstop), but he certainly hasn’t learned common sense. As such, having a large tree festooned with shiny things, fragile things, and strings of lights, remains a risk. A risk we’re willing to take to make sure he has a proper Christmas experience, especially now that he’s a lot more aware of what the season brings.

So I’ve resurrected last year’s post to remind myself that despite some growing pains, things have mostly changed for the better. He’s still a wrecking machine, but he can now sing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” as he annihilates ornaments with Santa Claus’s face on them. He’s still excited about the brightly-colored boxes under the tree, but now he knows that there are actual things inside those gifts that are more fun to play with then wrapping paper and boxes. And he now knows not to tug on the tree.

Of course, that hasn’t stopped him from tugging on the tree, pulling ornaments off the tree and spiking them into the ground, and tugging on the tree.

ORIGINAL POST: Woe, Christmas Tree