Watching holiday specials on TV. Am I the only parent who forgot that in the animated version of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” there’s a scary Snow Monster who terrorizes the innocent woodland creatures? I’m afraid I inadvertently gave my son nightmares. 
I didn’t know! I thought it was a family-friendly movie. Though why Miles is afraid of a silly-looking monster and not Jim Carrey’s creepy version of the Grinch is beyond me.
Getting the Christmas tree. This year, Miles went with some friends of ours to cut down their tree at a farm in the country. He had a blast. But the next day when my husband took him to pick out a tree for us, instead of enjoying a fun day out with Dad, Miles threw a fit. “I just already did get a tree yesterday!!” Sor-RY.
Sitting on Santa’s lap. There’s a very authentic Santa (Real beard! Velvet suit!) who visits a mall near us. Too bad for Santa, this mall also does an amazing holiday train display -- much more of a draw for a 2-year-old boy. Just as well. I’m afraid a visit to Santa would’ve turned into the Pony Ride Debacle all over again. Last summer, we waited in a long line (twice!) for Miles to ride a pony (his idea), only to have him freak out at the last minute.
Making a gingerbread house. So maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to heap piles of candy, cookies & frosting in front of a toddler. I mean, what did I expect? I’m not proud to admit that this would-be enjoyable holiday project took a bad turn, with me shouting: “Don’t touch that wall, you’re knocking it over! NO MORE CANDY!! Stop it, Miles, it’s just to look at!!” Then after he went to bed, I spent hours piping frosting onto roof tiles & giving myself gestational diabetes eating the extra candy. Fun times.
Taking the Christmas card photo. My son can be a bit temperamental at times. He wasn’t into getting his photo taken at the Festival of Trees. Like I said, he had no interest in sitting on Santa’s lap. There’s no snow, and I haven’t finished putting up my decorations. All this adds up to a lack of seasonal photo ops. Meaning I just ended up picking some random photo and ordering our cards from Snapfish before the free shipping offer ended.
Participating in the Christmas pageant. OK, this one hasn’t happened yet, but I’m greatly looking forward to seeing Miles and his classmates march down the aisle singing “Jingle Bells” in the school pageant. He’s been practicing at home. The “... sleigh -- hey!” is his favorite part.
TIP O’ THE WEEK: Craft stores like Michael’s & A.C. Moore are the place to find unbelievable bargains this time of year. Gift bags for 30 cents? Ribbon for 59 cents? 50 yards of wrapping paper for $1.99? Cute ornaments for pennies apiece? Plus 50% off coupons in every day’s paper? I’ll take it!
12/15/08
Toddler Holiday Traditions
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7 comments:
Ditto on the Christmas card photo for us. People with perfect photos must have a lot of free time and drugs around their households!
Lynn
Yes the Xmas specials can be scary. Don't let him watch "It's a Wonderful Life" for a while. Samanantha, at six, is still recovering. :)
We had the same experience with the Rudolph monster. It's been a week, and I'm still answering questions about him from my 3-year-old. I keep spinning it to focus on how nice he was at the end.
Oh yeah, and my 19-month-old is with your son on the "sleigh...hey!" We didn't know what she was trying to sing until we heard that part loud and clear.
Your gingerbread house is beautiful! I'd say it's worth the sugar high and subsequent meltdown. ;)
thanks, Katie! It's a Wilton kit, so I can't take all the credit.
Hey, I just posted about Rudolph, too! You're not the only parent who forgot. For us, the abominable snowman was my daughter's favorite part (she's 5 and wants it to be her Halloween costume next year!) but what's up with the dated sexism?? The girls batting their eyelashes, tittering and watching the boys have all the fun? Give me a break!
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