Spain Dad, a baby blog

Anonymous said...

Yes, but only the non-breakable ones. The only ones she can reach are the ones that are safe for her. And we figured it really wasn’t that big of a deal for her to remove a plastic apple ornament and walk around with it

Lyndsay said...

We dont let Ethan, not because our ornaments are so expensive and nice, just because I wanted to be able to leave the room and know that he wont pull everything off and possibly pull the tree down on himself. Plus I think its ok to teach him that some stuff is “pretty” and we dont throw the balls on the tree just because they look like balls. But maybe thats the difference b/t boys and girls that you were talking about in your post:)

mybabyadvice said...

Alex helps us to decorate the tree but after they ornaments are on we don’t let him play with them. It can be very dangerous to allow him to play with them for the same reasons that Lyndsay was saying.

Natalie said...

The kids aren’t allowed to touch the tree at all once we (them and I) have finished decorating it. When we had real trees, it was because I didn’t want them pulling the needles off. Now that we have the fake tree, it’s because the tree is made with lead (it’s a fire-retardant that’s used in making almost all fake trees), the strings of lights have lead in them (fire-retardant again), and DH is anal about the ornaments lasting forever. They help me decorate but they have to wash their hands immediately afterwards.

BUT, they are allowed full-reign in playing with the manger scene.

spain dad said...

It sounds like most of you (at least the ones who have left comments) do not let your kids play with the ornaments on the tree.

I’m torn. I suppose I empathize too much with Alleke because I feel like she’s not old enough to understand the difference between the toys in her toy cupboard and the toys on the tree. They look the same (some are almost identical). I think she’s confused by the whole thing.

Alleke is still pulling ornaments off the tree when I’m not paying attention, but I have been walking her back over to the tree and showing her that the ornaments belong there. I think the biggest reason for this is because, like you said Natalie, our ornaments have sentimental value (some, like the rocking horse, are handmade by my mom).

Also, Natalie, I love your idea about playing with the manger scene. It reminds me of Godly Play. Have you heard of this?

Katrina said...

Our daughter is three, and we let her play with ornaments. The ones that we don’t want her to touch are near the top. She has been really careful with them so far – she’ll take the angel ones off the tree to add to her nativity set, which she plays with a lot. She has also added some of her own “ornaments” (toys, magnets, pictures, etc.) to the tree. I think it helps her enjoy the excitement of Christmas!