Decorating with kids.

A friend of mine inspired me to at least start this post. She mused a few days ago about needing to learn to let go of her control in the decorating process. This friend has only one baby who is fast approaching his first birthday, and because I don't actually get to see or speak to her ever I can only guess that he is starting to cause her to rethink some decorations. 

Anyway what it made me think of is how my decorating has evolved over the years. 9 (2002) years ago Paul and I celebrated our first Christmas as a married couple in an apartment with a sparsely decorated tree and two cheap glitter painted stockings. My belly was swelling hinting at the little one to make her arrival in a few short months. That year we decided that each year we would pick up a few things here and there to add to our decor. 

Year two (2003): We had moved from an apartment to a house, the catch? The living room and dining room were all one room. Not much space for a tree and a six month old girl and all the baby things. We added lights to our decorations, and a few new tree ornaments. 

It was year three (2004) that made all the difference.. This time we had a mobile 18 month old and a tired secretly pregnant mommy. Up went the tacky baby gates to keep our darling from the stairs, and the tree. Yes, we fenced the tree. Remember, we have one room as our primary living space. So not only did we put a fence around the tree to keep our curious daughter away, but we discovered the dangers of low lying tree ornaments. It was a sight to behold. The tree was bare from the bottom to about the 3 foot mark (where Catherine's reach extended). 

Years four (2005) and five (06) and six (07) were about the same. As year four gave us a 2 1/2 year old girl, a 4 month old boy, and a tired not-as-secret pregnant with twins mommy. Year five Catherine is 3, Stephen is 1 and the twins are 6 months. well, you get the idea. For several years we had small kids with sticky fingers. Tight living quarters did not make for an easy Christmas set-up. Year after year Paul and I would decorate our tree and celebrate the hilarity of having the ugly baby fence around the tree and the bottom three feet undecorated.

What sets year six apart from the others is that Catherine was 4 which meant she was in pre-school. Soon  she was coming home with decorations that she made at school. What to do. what to do. Embrace the childhood creations! I remember coming home every year around Christmas time with handmade tree ornaments for my parents. Some would have our pictures, some would not. My parents still have most of them, and they still hang them up. And starting that year we would have the same thing. In addition to the tree ornaments, come the wall art. In general I am not a saver, but holiday themed decor I have kept it all. Every year I pull out the Christmas buckets and lo and behold among the candle holders, reindeer and other such things are hand crafted pieces of art on construction paper. I put it all up with as much pride as anything else. 

Years 7 (2008) and 8 (09) And our boys were getting older, and so we removed the baby gate. We still had to carefully place each ornament. We let them take more of an active roll in putting them up. And the best part of allowing the kids to help hang ornaments? We progressed from having the bottom three foot section empty to overflowing with decorations (that being the only place they can reach). Our rule then is, if we catch you touching an ornament then we will move it to the top of the tree. So by Christmas the ornaments are all up high and out of reach. 

And now here we are... 2010 and everything has changed. We moved to a new house. We don't even own baby gates anymore. And we are no longer in the land of one room living. The tree is up, and the bottom is chock full of decorations and we aren't even half way through yet. We have Stephen's pre-school artwork and Catherine's art-work from the past 2 years up with pride. This year we will add things from all four kids to our collection and I could not be more excited about that. 

This year I pulled out a nativity scene that has been in a box since we got it. We have always owned two but were only able to put up one on our mantle. This other one is lovely and we have just the place for it in this hand. With my littlest ones now four they are less likely to break or damage the nicer things that I have been avoiding for years. I love spreading our decorations among many rooms, and of course it now looks as though I don't have much at all. Our store bought decor mixes well will the kids handmade art, and all of it screams family. 

Every year Paul and I try to add to our decor. We cannot spend a lot all at once so each year we pick up a few things. This years decorating budget went to the outside. Two small strands of lights just weren't going to cut it. A two story colonial needs more than a small front porch of a row home. 

I truly enjoy the evolution of our Christmas decorating.  I like letting the kids help. I love the homemade keep sakes. When my kids get old I want them to remember Christmas as something fun. I want them to look at our tree ornaments and pull from them fond memories of their childhood as I do when I go home and see mine on my parents tree. I remember my dad holding out our special ornament that is marked with our birthday for us to put up. I try to do the same for my kids (I had an ornament engraved for each of the kids). I remember putting up our handmade stocking on Christmas eve (I still haven't finished my kids stockings, but more on that later). 

I have many great memories of my childhood that involve Christmas and decorating, and I want for my children to have the same. This friend who wants to let go of control... she can if she wants, or she doesn't have to. I can remember not being allowed to put anything on the tree until my dad had all the lights just the way he wanted. I can remember him guiding us where to put certain ornaments. Even when he was here this weekend watching me light my tree he was giving me directions. It's part of the tradition, and I'm not sure that there is a right or wrong way to do it.