so...is anyone NOT putting up a tree this year?

EdithBouvierBeale

not my jew ladies, of course. I mean...ok...here's what Im getting at:

w is OUT of control. he is nearly 2, he is disobedient and destructive. J was never this way. I struggle daily with ripping out my hair after telling him not to do the same things over and over and over...and re-directing, and then yelling and wanting to run away from home.

he is so determined. so...indefatigable when he wants to do something...I am curious if one of his many tumbles has led to permanent damage...ANYWAY:

I can't figure out where I could put a tree that wouldn't lead to me being on pins and pine"needles" about him touching, knocking over, undecorating, etc.

it would be a non stop chorus of this in our house, all season: no. wyatt, no. don't touch wyatt. wyatt! no!

MOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!! wyatt has tree decorations!! he's punching the christmas tree mom!!

is it way selfish of me to not put one up and save myself the trauma, and extra medication and booze I will need to make it through the holidays?

should I put it up in the spare bedroom where it will receive almost no attention?

of course...i suppose we could go in there fro bedtime stories and xmas morning...(except wyatt doesn't sit still for stories, he'll be on the attack the instant he sees the tree...) I hate to rip J off- she loves christmas trees and she's so well mannered and obedient.

OR...

I could re-arrange the whole living room, and get a small (3ft or so) tree to put where the tv is above the fire place (this will lead to major bumming on the H's part, but ultimately, I am the boss, so...whatevs.)

whatchoo think?

 

 

joy143dh

Or would a gate work if you put one around the tree?  Otherwise, I like the table-top tree idea.  But can you think of somewhere else to put it other than blocking the TV?    

EdithBouvierBeale

well...I don't want to do the big old gated tree corral, but i wouldn't have to block the tv- I would just have to put it elsewhere..which now that I think of it...I don't know WHERE I could put it that it wouldn't be the next target...jeeze.

I do have a 3 ft. aluminum tree somewhere...maybe I'll pull that out and find a place for it.. I am trusting that next year this won't be an issue, but this year...blarg.

Stellasmom

Is he too old for baby gates?

I doubt we'll put on up, but if we do it'll be in the office, which is gated off from the rest of the house.

firefightersgal

I would probably get a small tree.  When we lived in a tiny house and had no room for a big tree, my mom bought us a pre-decorated mini live tree.

EdithBouvierBeale

well..no, stell- but I won't want to buy one of those ginormo corrals just for a stupid tree (the layout of this duplex is just...incompatible with something simple!)

I think you guys already have a big wide set up- yeah?

that's what we'd have to do, but I don't want the trouble for just a few weeks...

maybe I can put a tiny one on top of the fridge and call it a day! LAME!!

wyatt is lucky he's cute...I'd have ditched him by now.

emilykristene2006

Okay, you and I have had a few chats about our DS's. J is a lot like W. So much so that I really thought of not putting one up this year. I was picturing him picking the thing up and using it to hit his sister with (even though it's a 6 foot tree!)

I decided to let it go. Put the thing up and see how it goes. I am completely prepared to drag the thing to our office and chuck it in there if I have to, but so far so good.

We put it up yesterday and all he has been doing is walking up and looking at the ornaments. The biggest problem we had was him unplugging and plugging in the lights. I just stood next to him and would march him right over to time-out every time he touched the plug. It was a pain in the butt, but I think the newness has already passed.

Just put it up with unbreakable ornaments. Stay on him. If he starts pulling stuff off, put him in time-out. Keep doing it. Maybe it will pass quickly?

If not, there's always Plan B.

moseyma

We put ours up for a very short while the year dd was 20 months.   Seriously, it went up on Christmas Eve and was down Boxing Day.  That way, we still got a few pics and presents under the tree, but the hassle was kept to a minimum.  She was never super wild or anything, but it was in our old house and we didn't have a separate play room, so having it up in the living room where she spent most of her time was just an exercise in frustration.

bugmommy

My 2yo is exactly the same.  Last year and this year we did a normal tree with modified decorations all in red, white, and silver - only candy canes, metal jingle bells with ribbon hangers, bows, decorations they made, etc.  If he takes them off periodically, whatever, he won't hurt himself.  He seems to mainly move them to other spots on the tree so I just rearrange them every couple of days to fill in bare spots. Most of the time it looks pretty decent though, just not my super fancy tree I used to do in the pre-children days.  

Purrrfect433

We're probably doing a tiny tree on the kitchen table this year because Callie will be all over our tree, too. You can still decorate the bejeezus out of your house, though, right? The tree isn't the only decoration you could have for Christmas. If you have other stuff out, it will still feel very festive for Juniper while keeping it babyproof for Wyatt.

sooosie

You and I are on the same plane with this one.  I just this afternoon took the risk of putting ours up.  I'm crossing myself and doing a few hail Mary's now that Max isn't going to F it up.  And I'm not even Catholic.

shiloh17

Could you put up your tree, and then maybe get him a cheapie lil tree that can be his own? i have a lil prelit tree that I got at CVS for $10. that way, he can have his own lil decorations and maybe learn to be gentle? He may think he is super special, bc he gets a tree all to himself! Just a suggestion.

Kapalua

I'm going to put ours up and hope for the best.  I'm a gluton for punishment.

but

I was watching HGTV last night (because I'm *that* cool) and Genevieve Gorder had hung her tree upside down from the ceiling.  Presumably because of her 2yo...but it looked awesome!