On Sunday, the 8th of December, I finally put up my Christmas decorations! The kiddo helped me, and I told her the origin of our ornaments and decorations. I reminded her about the ones that were breakable, and explained that some of them have sentimental value. That isn't the only reason I don't want her to break anything--I certainly don't want her cutting herself, either. She was being very careful...until Monday, the 9th of December.
I came upstairs from doing a load of laundry and found that all hell had broken loose. First, the cat had started to hack and was dumped into "his" room (you know, the one with The Box), and the kiddo was wailing in her room. Nobody wails like that over cat puke (OK, I have come close), so I knew something else was amiss. Hubby informed me that the kiddo had broken one of our decorations*. I called her out of her room to get her explanation (and an apology), but all I got was "it was an accident!!!!!!!". I explained to the kiddo that I was disappointed that she was only concerned about saving herself, and she didn't offer me an apology. Then, of course, she started apologizing over and over...a bit late, and with the urgency of someone trying to save their backside. I told her that I understood that accidents happened, and that I was glad she wasn't hurt, but...since I was worried about her breaking something else made of glass or ceramic and cutting herself, it was probably a good idea to put the most fragile decorations away. No, not the ones on the tree--I'm going to leave them there and hope for the best. And maybe yell a bit if necessary.
So... anything fragile has been put away. Fortunately, we still have some sturdy, not-so-breakable decorations left out. And the kiddo knows that if she proves to me that she can be careful, we will put some of the other decorations back. I understand that, since these decorations come out only once a year, it is exciting to see them and hear about their histories...I'd kinda like to be able to leave some of to the kiddo, though!
*The kiddo didn't cut herself, and Hubby thinks he can fix it!
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