Monday, December 1, 2008

Oh Christmas Tree!

For Family Night we decided to put up our Christmas Tree. And can I just say I already want to take it down.? Seriously, that thing is going to be the death of all of us. None of the kids can leave it alone. Paige and Morgan have ruined a few ornaments already (I just bought all new ornaments last year which makes it that much more disturbing to me). There is sparkle dust and ornament hooks all over the carpet. Everyone turns the lights on and off and on and off and on and off....and it has only been up for a couple hours. How do you keep kids from playing with the dang tree? I don't remember it being this bad last year, but I guess I have 2 more babies that can actually get to the tree now. I don't even have the energy to go back and "fix" all the ornaments so they meet my standard. The ornaments only cover the bottom third of the tree. Half of the ornaments are still on my kitchen table. My Christmas decorations are mixed in with them. And I have my storage boxes everywhere. So, tonight for Family Night we learned that if we want to do an activity like setting up the Christmas tree, we need to do it in the morning when us as parents have a full dose of patience. Not after a long day of children watching when we are negative in that area. The kids did seem to have fun in between getting yelled at by Trent and I. I should just learn to expect chaos. It is inevitable.

12 comments:

Ginny said...

we put the ornaments up last night...and I spent most of my today saying "just look...no touch" over and over and over. last year we only had ornaments on the top two thirds of the tree...i'm almost there again. good luck and let me know if you figure out any magic trick!!

Ginny said...

ps...does it help that they are absolutely adorable?? because they are!!

Jamie said...

Such cute pics of your kiddos! Sorry for all the chaos with the tree. Just think, after the next few years, this whole stage will be behind you - forever. I, on the other hand, will potentially be in that stage for the next 10 years or so. Wow.

Brenda said...

I know how you feel. When the kids are young, you just kind of have to expect that your tree is always going to look a mess. People understand.

Tavan said...

I love to watch Jon and Kate Plus 8 on TLC... anyhoo, they put up a baby gate around the tree and presents so the munchkins couldn't get to them... maybe that's an idea? I have to steal advice from other people or shows cause because I have no kids :)

Angela said...

Okay I was laughing so hard when I read this!! Your kids are so adorable! I didn't even bother with trying to keep Megan out of the ornaments, I just let her decorate the tree with me and as a result most of the tree is bare except for a big patch on the front where all of the ornaments are clustered together. But I figure she's just going to rearrange them everyday anyway so why bother? The only thing that really drives me crazy is that she is fascinated by my porcelin nativity set my grandma gave me and I KNOW something is going to get broken this year, but I can't bear to put it away! Well what can you do? Your kids are so cute.

Loralee White said...

I know the feeling- I wish I could tell you it gets better real soon, but that would be a lie. You would think it would be my 1 year old messing with the tree but its my 7 & 5 year old. I keep thinking Someday we will have a really beautiful tree, but by then I will have grandkids. o well they love it. Your kids are so dang cute!!!

Luke and Kimmy said...

I love your tree. Hopefully I'll get to see it again before it's destroyed.

cwilson said...

Looks cute from here! One day you'll look back and laugh...right?

Kelli said...

At my house, it is the top two thirds that are decorated with the "good" ornaments and the bottom third is decorated with shatterproof ones from Walmart. At least that way, they don't break and you can relax a bit. Good luck, though, cuz 2 is different than 5!

Unknown said...

Yeah this is the first year my boys have been able to get the ornaments from the tree and it irks me that they take them off. Hopefully it won't be like this forever. Your tree looks cute though.

Beth Monson said...

So my tree has been up for 3 days (and we have already lost 9 ornaments) but I keep telling the boys not to touch, just to look. So my Father-in-law came over to watch the boys the other night and as soon as he walked in the door, he walks right over to the tree and takes an ornament off to look at it???? HELLOOOOOOO Who does that??? WE JUST LOOK!!! DON'T TOUCH!!! I didn't think I would have to explain that to a 55 year old man (and he was there to be watch my kids???) I am not inviting him over again until after the tree is taken down.