{Surviving Christmas : Tip 1}

            

                  
It's almost that time. Christmas tree time. Whether yours is in a box in the garage or about to be chopped down and waiting to be chosen, it's coming. Everyone has there own traditions about when and how they decorate the trees. If you are like us, you wait with baited breath for the first of December and fill the house with Christmas music whilst the tree goes up. However, my social media feeds have seen some beautiful trees already go up in November. Some very keen Christmas spirit indeed!

Although my boys are 7 and 4 now, the past few years have seen little kids crawling and running around the house. I felt terrible rousing on them to not touch the ornaments in case they pulled them off and broke them. Those suckers are fragile and can shatter into shards you don't want near little children. Regardless if they are prized ornaments or cheaper ones.

When I discussed this with my very wise Mother-in-law years ago, she explained her very simple solution that has been a  lifesaver for us. Rather than try to contain the kids and make them feel like they are becoming a burden for simply being curious, contain the tree instead.
I picked up a second hand wooden playpen for $50 and assembled our tree inside. This helped keep the ornaments in one piece and the children could still enjoy the beautiful tree without me having to work overtime keeping them away from it. WIN - WIN!
                                           
This will be the first christmas in a while without the playpen, but we are obviously not throwing it out considering we will have a 8 month old princess crawling around next Christmas...(woah that's crazy to think about!)

Q: Do you already have your tree up? Are there any special traditions your family enjoys at this time?  

Lauren x