Toddler Thursday: O, Tannenbaum
It's Sarah K.K., back with another installment of Toddler Thursday ...
Just a quick, back-from-vacation-and-trying-to-catch-up post today. But I'm wondering: What are folks doing to protect their Christmas tree from their toddler ... and vice versa? We have a skinny, artificial, Charlie Brown-ish tree in the living room, and at the moment, the base is surrounded by tall boxes so the kidlet can't get to it (pretty much).
He's still fascinated by the whole thing, though mostly he just wants to reach out and touch the ornaments. Under supervision -- with reminders of "Gentle!" -- he's been doing OK. And that wall of boxes helps, too.
Some friends from my moms' group were talking about buying one of those big baby gates to put all the way around their tree, but I don't know if anyone actually did.
Anyone have any other suggestions?
I think, as usual, the tree is probably most at risk for attack by the cats, not the kid. But we'll see!
Comments
I put the plastic unbreakable ornaments at the bottom within her reach and let her play away, supervised, of course.
Posted by: Margaret | December 17, 2009 12:56 PM
Some more comments I got from friends on Facebook:
-- We fenced ours in the corner but he still managed to break 3 glass ornaments. Next year: more plastic ornaments.
-- Toddler? I need to figure out how to keep it safe from the kitten. He's kuh-illing me with the flying leaps into/onto the middle of the tree.
-- We have an artifical tree with shatter-proof ornaments from WalMart. In a couple more years I'll start putting the nice ornaments back on the tree.
-- Right now, from about 2 feet down, I have only unbreakable ornaments (plastic or metal). And no tinsel. Learned that lesson the hard way. You don't want to know the sound tinsel makes as you pull it out of the back end of a cat.
-- I know someone who instituted a "one finger" rule. You can use one finger to touch the tree or ornaments. Like Tiffany i don't hang my breakables, I have Hummel ornaments that are impossible to replace if broken. Maybe next year when the kid is 4...
Posted by: Sarah K.K. | December 17, 2009 1:38 PM
No toddlers at our house, but we are keeping an eye on our cats. Max is an aqua cat who just loves the water, so he was delighted to find the tree stand: "My own kitty-sized pond! Oh boy!" Merry Christmas, Max.
Posted by: Dahlink | December 17, 2009 3:25 PM
I have been told to put the tree in a playpen. But I have not tried it. We just keep a small tree up higher than eye level. Only use non shatter ornaments, and stay away from the hooks. I also set up christmas cards and other "FUN" christmas stuff around the tree, so she is distracted by that and stays away from the tree.
Posted by: Amber Scott | December 18, 2009 12:16 AM