Tag Archives: Christmas Tree

On the First Day of Christmas, My Daughter Gave to Me…Help Selecting Our Christmas Tree

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On the first day of Christmas, my daughter gave to me…help selecting our Christmas tree. Since Quinn was one year’s old, we started the tradition of getting our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. Now that she’s four year’s old, there is no containing her excitement, and just like her Mommy, she wanted the biggest, widest and tallest tree available. Good thing her daddy was there to reign us both in as we had our eyes set on a nine foot tree that would’ve surely scrape our ceiling.

As simple as this task can be, having it as a tradition makes it so much more meaningful, especially now that my little girl not only helps to pick out the tree but has taken over with the naming of our Christmas tree: a fun tradition my husband and I started for her first Christmas. We’ve had BG, short for Big Green, BGJ, short for Big Green junior and BG3, short for Big Green the third. This year, Quinn picked a very interesting name: Heavenly Brownie! When I asked her what made her come up with that name, she said, “I just like it!” Who knows what we’ll call our tree next year, but I’m definitely looking forward to the experience.

Here’s to fond memories with our 2017 Christmas tree: Heavenly Brownie!

All the best,

Tanya

 

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas, My Little Girl Gave to Me…Eagerly Counting Down Until It’s Christmas Day

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“Now, there’s only one day left until Christmas, Daddy!” I overheard my daughter saying. Puzzled, I came into her bedroom to see how Quinn believed there were one three days remaining when there was actually ten. She was using the Melissa & Doug Countdown Christmas Tree I purchased her last year and put the ornaments on the tree so that only one day was left. “I’m just joking, Daddy! I just put more ornaments on the tree so Christmas can come sooner,” she informed him.

If only it worked that way, I would have made Christmas come faster all the time when I was younger. The anticipation and excitement for Christmas to come, though overwhelming at times, was a feeling like no other. It was a magical time, and I am looking forward to my three year old experiencing that magic too.

Now, with Christmas Eve tomorrow, we’re all counting down and ready to not just enjoy exchanging gifts but each other’s company.

All the best,

Tanya

On the Second Day of Christmas, My Little Girl Gave to Me…Fun Decorating Our Christmas Tree

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Turning Off The Light to Check Out Our Tree
Proud of Our New Tree Decorations
Our Rainbow Tree

On the second day of Christmas, my little girl gave to me, fun decorating our Christmas tree.

“Next year, let’s do a fun tree, Mommy!” my little girl suggested back in 2015. For the past few years, even before Quinn was born, our tree could be classified as sophisticated, so when Quinn asked about a fun tree, it was right on time because I was eager to break up the monotony of the same decorations year after year. Shortly after Christmas last year, I started googling “fun Christmas trees,” but the types were vast. So I thought, why not ask my daughter what she thought would be a fun tree, and she immediately said, “How about a rainbow tree just like my playroom!?”

I was instantly on board, told my husband, and we were both on the hunt for after Christmas discounts on ornaments since quite a few would be required, especially with the tree in previous years just having blue, silver and gold ornaments. Then, in September, I saw a commercial for a Christmas tree light called “Tree Dazzler.” I did a little research and found that it was a knockoff of the original “Geek My Tree,” from Shark Tank which comes with an app, unlike the Tree Dazzler, and far more color sequences to set the lights to do just about whatever you want. Though much pricier than the “Tree Dazzler,” it goes perfectly with our rainbow theme, and I was able to set the lights to be in accordance with the color order of the ornaments.

Not only was it fun decorating our tree together, it was a wonderful way to reinforce sorting, color recognition and the order of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. The decorations are certainly more fun and playful now, just like my little three year old wanted. Quinn is very happy with the new tree decorations, and so am I.

All the best,

Tanya

On the First Day of Christmas: My Little Girl Gave to Me…Fun Picking Out Our Tree

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On the first day of Christmas, my little girl gave to me, fun picking out our Christmas tree. Selecting a Christmas tree on Black Friday has been a tradition my husband and I started since we had my daughter, and now that she’s three and a half, she really looks forward to that special outing. Quinn loves having the responsibility of choosing our tree and takes it very seriously. This year she insisted, “Mommy, it has to be very tall and fluffy!” Within less than five minutes, she found the perfect tree. “It’s taller than Daddy!” she exclaimed. We asked if she wanted to look at others, and with absolute certainty she said, “No, this is the one!” For the past few years, our tree’s have been named Greeny, Big Green Jr. and  BG3. This year, Quinn came up with the name Bert.

Once we got “Bert” home, she wanted to help her daddy bring him into his new home and set him up. It’s so nice to see her face light up, and I’m happy to share this tradition with her.

All the best,

Tanya

On the “Actual” Day of Christmas My Toddler Gave to Me…Christmas Fun with My Little One

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Quinn Enjoying Her Christmas Present: Lambie from Doc McStuffins

On the “actual” day of Christmas, my toddler gave to me joy selecting a Christmas tree,  memorable moments decorating, festive and fun goofing around, partying all night, excitement while visiting Santa Claus, counting down the days, happiness at Sesame Place, bonding time making our own tree, befriending Santa’s elf on the shelf, creating a chocolate cookie candy train, receiving messages from the North Pole, baking cookies for Santa Claus and witnessing the happiness in my daughter’s eyes!

This Christmas day, my two and a half year old woke up at 6:37 am, which is around the time she usually wakes up, but today she knew it was Christmas and asked, “Did Santa come, Mommy?” I told her, “Let’s go see!” “Wow, look at all these presents, Mommy! How did Santa get them here? Where did he get them from? Did he go to the store?” My inquisitive little girl was full of questions. “May I open one please, Mommy?” With each gift she opened, the excitement continued to build, and when she finally got to the one gift she asked Santa for when she visited and took a picture with him, she was so happy. “Mommy, Santa got me Lambie! I asked for Lambie when I talked to Santa!”

What made me a proud mommy is that with each gift Quinn opened, she thanked her father and me and asked if she could thank Santa too. She also gave me the opportunity to be a big kid and play with some of her gifts with her. After a morning filled with fun and what felt like never-ending playtime, we both took a nap and then had a wonderful time with our relatives. Watching Quinn interact with her cousins was reminiscent of the fun times I had with my siblings and cousins.

Before she dozed off on the car ride home a little before 11:00 pm, my husband and I asked her how was her Christmas, and she said, “It was great! I got Lambie, saw family (she actually named everyone) and had a good day!” What a wonderful way to spend the Christmas holiday. Here’s to many years to come counting down the days of Christmas with my little girl!

Happy Holidays,

Tanya H. Franklin

On the Eighth Day of Christmas My Toddler Gave to Me…Christmas Fun with My Little One

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2015-12-10 14.07.58

Quinn is ready to get started!

On the eighth day of Christmas, my toddler gave to me joy selecting a Christmas tree,  memorable moments decorating, festive and fun goofing around, partying all night, excitement while visiting Santa Claus, counting down the days, happiness at Sesame Place and bonding time making our own tree! I’ve always loved doing special art projects in school, and though my two and a half year old is not in day school, I want to ensure that she has the experience of doing special art projects for the holiday. Since she loves the Christmas tree, having her make one herself was a perfect idea. I had a vision of what I wanted us to create together, and we were able to get most of the materials from Target: green tissue paper, green shredded paper, colorful pom pom balls in multiple sizes, puffy red garland and a gold bow. We already had the construction paper,  Modge Podge matte finish and scissors.

We used an 11 x 17 green construction paper. I folded it in half and cut the paper on an angle to make the triangular tree. I thin folded and cut up the tissue paper in rectangular pieces. Then, Quinn took over the project by applying Modge Podge to the tree a little at a time with her sponge then placing the tissue paper on top. To give the tree some texture, we added the shredded green paper with a little more Modge Podge Glue. After allowing the tree to dry, we then added the red garland with glue and taped the backs to make sure it was secure. Then, we added the pom pom balls as ornaments. Once everything was dry, we put the tree on red construction paper as a backing and then added the gold bow as the star. This was a fun project for us both, and now we have two trees for Christmas!

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Our work is displayed on Quinn’s special frame for all to see.

All the best,

Tanya

Here’s a slide show of our project below:

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On the Sixth Day of Christmas My Toddler Gave to Me…Christmas Fun with My Little One

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The tree’s up, the decorations are festive and fun, we partied, and paid a visit to Santa. Now, with just a week to go until Christmas, the feelings of excitement and anticipation are beginning to build for my little girl as well as me. Back in early November, I stumbled upon a Melissa and Doug count-down Christmas tree at Home Goods and just knew it would be perfect for the holiday on multiple levels. Initially, my two and a half year old wanted to put all of the ornaments on the wooden tree, but once I explained to her that we would be counting down the days until Christmas and adding an ornament to the tree once a day, she understood. Now, she eagerly reminds me every day that we need to put an ornament on the tree. I really love this educational Christmas tree because it reinforces the importance of counting, well actually counting down instead of up, which is a skill Quinn is doing quite well with. She is able to count down from ten to zero. It also helps Quinn to understand basic math. Though the days of the week are not present on the tree, she sometimes refers to it as her Christmas tree calendar, which I think is great. I wish I had something like this when I was younger because I was always so excited for Christmas to arrive. Actually, even as an adult, I am still excited for Christmas to arrive and am eager to see the joy on Quinn’s face when she sees the gifts Santa has left her under the “real” Christmas tree.

All the best,

Tanya

On the Second Day of Christmas My Toddler Gave to Me…Christmas Fun with My Little One

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2015-12-14 08.10.27The Christmas season is full of wonderful activities to promote family togetherness that involve my two and a half year old. Yesterday, I posted an entry about her selecting our Christmas tree, so of course I need to post on the actual decorating of the Christmas tree. Last year, Quinn was more of an observer who occasionally tried to take an ornament or two off of the tree until I convinced her that it would hurt our tall, green friend. This year, she actually helped to put many of the ornaments on the tree while Christmas music played in the background. Though she had the tendency to put most of them in the same section, leaving parts of the tree bare, I beamed with excitement as Quinn bopped her head to the music while concentrating on putting the ornaments on the tree. “Look, Mommy! I put a blue one on the tree!” she eagerly informed me. The tree has been up for about two weeks now, and she enjoys stopping by to look at her handy work. “We decorated the tree and did a nice job. Right, mommy!” she says. “We sure did, Quinn!”  What a terrific way to celebrate the holiday with my little girl.

All the best,

Tanya

On the First Day of Christmas My Toddler Gave to Me…Christmas Fun with My Little One

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2015-11-27 11.40.16Christmas has always been one of my favorite holidays, but a few years ago the feeling of sugar plums dancing in my head began to fade. Then my daughter was born, causing me to think about my own childhood memories.  Just the other day she said, “I wish it was Christmas everyday, Mommy! I love Christmas!” A big smile came over my face as the child within me was brought back to life through her words. One of my favorite activities is selecting the Christmas tree, and this was the first year Quinn was able to pick out the one she wanted. The day after Thanksgiving, we went to select our tree.

As soon as we started looking, my little two and a half year old automatically went to the one she knew would be ours.  “I want this tree, Mommy! Can we get this tree, Daddy?” Though this is a simple activity, it is one I appreciate just as much as Quinn. It is more than just selecting a tree; it is about family togetherness and working together as team to pick what we believe is the “best” tree for our home. Also, it gives Quinn an opportunity to feel empowered by picking the tree for the family as she gets our approval. I’m looking forward to this being an annual tradition for our family.

All the best,

Tanya

Oh Christmas Tree…”Ouch” Christmas Tree!

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Quinn Examining B.G.'s Ornaments

Quinn Examining B.G.’s Ornaments

I love decorating for the holidays, especially for Christmas. Putting up the lights, garland and tree has always been a childhood favorite of mine, and I want to pass that tradition on to my little girl as well. Last year, at seven months, Quinn did not pay much attention to the tree, but this year she is fascinated with it and loves examining the ornaments. For fun, my husband and I always name our Christmas tree as though he is a part of the family. This year he is “B.G.” (short for Big Green).  Every morning, she enjoys saying, “Hi tree!” or “Hola arbol!” As sweet as this interaction is, Quinn also loves yanking off B.G.’s ornaments and will either stash them in random places or return them to her dad or me with a big grin on her face.

So we came up with a plan which was working for a little while. We convinced her that it hurts him and pretended that he was saying, “Ouch!” whenever she pulled at his ornaments. Initially, she had sympathy for B.G. and would even stroke his tree branch and say, “Sorry” or “No ouch tree!” But lately, she quickly yanks off an ornament and yells out in a high-pitch voice, “Ouch!” Then she scurries off giggling with me or my husband chasing behind her. She thinks this is hilarious, and as much as I want her to stop messing with B.G.’s ornaments, it is quite funny, and I find myself stifling my chuckle from time to time as I catch my little girl sneakily trying to take one of B.G.’s ornaments when she thinks no one is looking. Here’s to new Christmas traditions!

All the best,

Tanya