I was looking at my neighbor's tree last year, at her annual Christmas party, and I was wondering why it was both beautiful and boring at the same time in my opinion. I'm afraid I was staring at it, just trying to figure out why I ultimately didn't like it.
And it dawned on me, I'd told her about Kids Franglets , and yet there were no ornaments for kids at all on her entire tree. In fact the whole house was very high end, very tasteful, and yet it felt almost antiseptic.
Her kids aren't grown and long gone. She has an 8-year-old, a girl 10, and a teen 16. Why on earth, I thought, aren't there musical instrument ornaments -- her daughter plays the piano beautifully and has won contents. Why aren't there sports ornaments personalized for her son who has three times won the region in baseball? And the youngest? They always ask me as her godmother -- don't tell! -- to give her Sesame Street DVDs. Why can't I give her an Elmo ornament and have it make it to the Christmas tree?
Armed with my purpose, I ask my goddaughter, if she liked the Cookie Monster ornament I gave her last year. She said, "I love it". She then told me that I was looking at the "grown up" tree, and that the kids ornaments were each in their rooms. She showed me kids Christmas ornaments on bookshelves, hanging from the bed post, and stuck into the potpourri in her bathroom. Seriously, there was the Cookie Monster shoved into some willow bark and dried flowers. Yuck!
OK, I know, it's not my house. Word to the wise: don't build Christmas memories away from the family by cordoning everything off into the kid's room. I understand wanting a pristine house with everything in order. But these kids will remember all the lovely Christmases they spent in their room, not the Christmases enjoyed as a family, in front of the fire and enjoying the family Christmas tree filled with franglets and everything else, including their kids Christmas ornaments!