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The Compromise

Is everyone ready for the holidays? Cards sent? Packages wrapped? Ha. Hardly. It seems like the holidays sneak up on me a little more quickly each year. We’re off to Italy for a few days with our family and looking forward to one last Christmas with relatively portable children who don’t fully understand what is going on. Of course this then lends itself to the big question: to decorate or not to decorate. I love a house that looks like the North Pole for the entire month of December. But now I have two curious little people living here and I’m not sure it’s worth all that trouble just to chase them around, pulling them off the tree and making sure the lights aren’t within reach when we aren’t even here for The Big Day. So here’s my compromise:

No tree. Actually that is a lie. No big tree. I bought a hideous little tabletop number with flashing lights. There are no ornaments to break, no tinsel to choke on. The only real danger is the electric cord, but I can keep that tucked back against the wall out of reach.
Lots of jingle bells. The girls love them, they can’t hurt themselves (so long as they are securely fastened to one another and don’t pose a choking hazard) and it makes me feel good when I hear that little jingle. Helps to make up for the absence of my giant tree.
Nothing less than 3 feet from the floor that isn’t in keeping with our usual safety standards. Oh, and within 12 inches of any part of the sofa since Zoe has learned to climb up on the back of it and bend forward at a frightening angle trying to reach everything that isn’t allowed.
And finally, we have an appointment with Santa on Saturday and I’m going to let the kids sit directly on his lap. Last year I was all crazy about Eva being so little and I had her wrapped in a blanket that Santa was allowed to touch and then it went straight to the washer. But this year they are big girls and are probably the ones that all the little babies should be afraid of, with their chronically runny noses and hacking coughs.
So there you have it: the Christmas Compromise. I won’t be putting them in danger and I won’t be pulling out my hair trying to police the two of them around all my decorations. And my family can stop making fun of me for disinfecting my daughter last year after one of Santa’s elves touched her at the mall. Seriously, could I imagine a germier place this time of year?

Dr. Lara Zibners, Dec 09, 2010

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