Christmas Tree Battles

We put the tree up over the weekend and I am wondering why we even bothered???? Anyone else having Christmas Tree battles at your house? The first year no problems...they were only 6 months old. Last year again problem free despite the fact that they could have played with it, but they didn't. This year, :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: they will not keep their little hands off of it and have nearly knocked it completely over a gazillion times!! I am ready to take it down and it is only December 2nd! UGH!!

Am I the only crazy that put a tree up with 2 two year olds???

 

We haven't put ours up yet because we're having some windows replaced behind the spot where it will go. But, I know we'll have *exactly* the same situation. I wish I knew what to tell you!

We heard Kevan's first two-word phrase recently. You know what it was? "No touch!" Yeah, not like he hears that much during the day, LOL.

I just don't know. I'm sure it's going to be a nightmare.

 

Mine turned two a few months ago and they have NO problem with the tree. We let them touch the branches when we put it up (it's live) but once the lights were on we said that you are not to touch it and they haven't touched it once....

Hope you have better luck as they get used to it

 

We had a small one when they were little so if they knocked it over it didn't do any damage

 

I put my superyard around it till they were 3 - almost 4! :hug: If you don't have a superyard, you'll need to figure out something!!! :hug:

 

Last year the girls did great with the tree, this year a different story. I have put all my ornaments up higher so the tree looks stupid since there are no ornaments on the bottom third. Ours has been up since the second week of November :blush: and they haven't paid that much attention to it the last couple of weeks. I think once the newness and excitement of it being there wears off they will get better. Also, I have a 4 foot one in their room with ornaments that won't break and can't be destroyed. I told them they could touch those but not the big tree. ardon: Seems to work well in our house.

GL

 

We put up our first tree when mine had just turned 2, and they had almost no problem with it. One of those little glass balls (the kind that come in dozens) did get broken, but that was it. Our rule (for Christmas trees as well as most other fragile/breakable things) is "Touch with one finger." It's hard to do much damage that way. It helps that this was also the rule at daycare, so they got lots of reinforcement on it.

So, the first year was fine. Last year, when they were 3, it was actually a little tougher, and this year I expect it to be tough again. They are not as mindlessly clumsy anymore, but now that they think of themselves as competent big kids, they simply cannot understand why they're still not allowed to touch certain things. So instead of touching because they just forgot or because they couldn't control their impulses, they touch because (in their minds) they've thought through the issue and decided the rule isn't necessary! :laughing:

Anyway, I agree with Brandy that the newness and excitement does wear off. And you might need to move lots of ornaments higher up (IIRC, we did that both years). You might also do some "supervised touching" just so they can explore the things they are really curious about...?

 

Trent's first 2-word phrase was "get down" and I thought exactly the same thing.

I respectfully disagree with the newness wearing off. I haven't seen that at all yet.

3 was the first year my kids were able to show some restraint around the tree. They still clamor to touch but at least they aren't yanking on the branches to watch the ornaments fly anymore like they did when they were younger.

 

We put our Superyard in front of it last year, and that worked well (and my, was it beautiful! ). When I was a kid, my parents would take fairly strong wire and tie the tree to the handles that open the windows behind it, so the tree could not fall over. I have a 10-years-younger brother who was toddling about, and we had some adventurous cats who liked to climb. It worked really well, but would be dependent upon access to an anchor of some sort!

 

Me too! My boys are close to 4 now, and I'm really hoping that this year will not be a struggle like in years past. I think it just depends on the kid! My DD has been great for years, but my boys!!??? Oh, my! It's just too irresistable! And the play yards only work if your kids don't spend all their time climbing them or lifting them or pushing them into the tree. For us the play yard (super yard??) only worked for my boys' first Christmas, when they were 11 months old. Even then, they'd stand by them and reach for things. That year our tree only had ornaments, garland, lights, and such on the top. It looked silly, but it brings back memories.

My kids help us decorate the tree, so they are allowed to touch and hold ornaments to their hearts content. We have tried to enforce tree rules, but their curiousity is too much. It's still a battle no matter what we've tried. And they aren't trying to be naughty, they just want to touch the shiny stuff, or play with the miniature horses, and stuff. IMHO, it's just natural curiousity, so I have to make my own concessions until they are old enough to practice more self-control.

The two things I have been doing, and will probably do this year and next, is I just don't put up ornaments that I would be upset if they were ruined. I also don't put my tree up for another week, so it's only up for a couple weeks, instead of the full 1+ months that I usually do. I want to enjoy the season and not constantly battling my boys about the tree!

 

We've always put up a tree. 1st few years attached to something with string so they couldn't pull it over and only the top 1/2 ( or out of reach area) decorated for the 1st couple of years, its just too tempting for them.

 

I was just coming here to start this thread. We put ours up on Saturday after they went to bed. This morning, there is a blanket of needles on the floor and 2 or 3 totally bare branchs at the bottom.... ARGH. We did the Superyard trick last year and it worked well, I just wonder if this year they'd just tear that down or try to climb over it.

Seriously, why do we bother? They won't remember if we have a tree or not...