Archive for November, 2008
Keeping your toddler away from the Christmas tree
When each of the mummified kids were little, a simple "no!" or "it’s just for looking!" usually worked for keeping them from pulling the Christmas tree on top of themselves. They might have pulled a couple of the decorations off but after a while, the novelty wore off.
Last Christmas, Annabelle was nine months old and she was the most curious of them all. At every opportunity, she was trying to get to the tree and eat the decorations. She is the only one that puts everything in her mouth!
So we brainstormed for ideas to keep our baby AND our tree safe:
Get a small table-top tree – wouldn’t work because I’m a Christmas freak and it wouldn’t be Christmas without my big tree!
Getting an upside-down hanging tree – seemed to be popular last year but not my cup of tea.
Put the tree in a room that the baby doesn’t go into often – ummm, if you have been to my house, you would be rofl at this suggestion! My house is a poky little box small.
Put the tree in a playpen – a good idea but our living room is small and it would have taken up too much room.
This is what we ended up doing – we got one of those wooden playpens. Bill took the hinges off one side to open it up and after putting the tree in the corner, we kinda wrapped the playpen around the tree so Annabelle couldn’t reach it. Worked for us!
Some other ideas include:
* letting the toddler have their own little Christmas tree with unbreakable (stuffed toys?) decorations that they can decorate whichever way and whenever they want)
* only decorating the top half of the tree and leaving the bottom half bare
* anchoring tree by tying it to the wall or window frame, etc so the tree doesn’t topple over
* putting the tree in the corner and moving the couch in front of it
This year, she doesn’t seem too fussed with it. She had a ball helping us hang the decorations and when it was finished and the lights were put on, she was happy to sit with me on the lounge and watch the lights flash 
The one thing that I won’t be doing, but I usually did, is put the gifts under the tree before Christmas Day (not the kids’ gifts, just everyone else’s). I think if I put them out, Annabelle would be tempted to get to them!
How do you keep babies and toddlers away from your Christmas tree?
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Skinny Santa!
We’re going, sometime through the week, to get the Santa photo done with the kids. I think I’m going to have to either bribe or pay William and Tiesha this year to be in the photo…LOL Last year I said to them that it was going to be the last time they had to be in a Santa photo because I just wanted ONE with all five of the kids.
When Santa arrives in town, while I’m in the various shopping centres I check out the Santa to see if he really looks like Santa and if he looks like a NICE Santa. I remember a few years ago, one of the shopping centres hired a skinny Santa who looked like he had been on diet supplements for too long and lost too much weight. His suit was so baggy on him, he looked ridiculous!
I’ve noticed that the Santa at the local Westfield (Figtree, for those playing locally 
) looks like a REAL Santa so I think that’s where we’re going to go this year.
Am I the only one to check out the Santas first before getting the photos taken? Please tell me I’m not! LOL
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Missing mail
I don’t know if our mail and parcels are getting stolen or something but I’ve had two parcels go missing containing items that I purchased from eBay. The sellers swear that they sent the items and I have received the stuff that I bought after these two things.
I’ve also been getting phone calls from an insurance company who keeps wanting to give me a life insurance quote for Bill but I haven’t received the brochure that they said they sent me. The woman I spoke to yesterday said she’ll send another one out but this will be the 2nd time they are doing this.
I’ve now started paying extra for my items that I buy from eBay to be sent via registered mail. That way I need to sign on delivery. As for the other mail, I’m not sure what I should do. I don’t want to have to get a P.O box. Maybe we should put a lock on the mailbox?
Have you experienced your mail or parcels go missing?
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Our Christmas Tree 2008
We put up our Christmas tree this evening – I couldn’t wait until Dec 1, like we were going to! We had Christmas music playing in the background. But we didn’t wear Christmas hats like we usually do…it was a little too humid for hats!
Click on the photos to view them better
Oh, and I added 2 toy soldiers to the mantle to complete the look. I’m happy with the way it looks now – and have been told I’m not allowed to add anything else to it…LOL
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Christmas lights
We’ve decided that we’re not going to put the Christmas lights outside this year. I think we have enough expenses without the added expense of having the lights on for at least 4 hours each night.
Last year, I was concerned that all the lights we had on the house would blow the circuit board or something! I read a story last year about a house being burned down because of the Christmas lights. The poor family didn’t have any home insurance, the poor things!
I remember being so paranoid about our lights that I would not leave them on if we were going out and I turned them off when I went to bed, even if Bill was still up!
Maybe next year we’ll put out all our lights again.
Do you decorate the outside of your house?
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Can I go on a holiday instead?!
After reading Paula’s comment about going through all the paperwork and culling in response to my post about trying to get our paperwork in order, I’ve decided it’s probably easier to make las vegas hotel reservations that decide what papers to keep and which ones to cull!
I’m thinking that I’m going to have to participate in her Paper Organization for Busy Moms workshop! One more thing to add to my newly started to-do list for the new year! lol
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