Treearoo udate
This year I brought the Treearoo up from the basement, thinking it would be nice to get Tilja (15 months old) used to it now, and see how she reacts/interacts with it.
I’ve heard how parents worry about their kids mauling the xmas tree, and although I have seen how kids can be interested in the actual ornaments, I’ve never experienced a tree disaster myself.
This year I put the treearoo, and Tilja, to the test.
It was a very quick test.
I started off letting her help me screw the trunk into the base. That was fine, she enjoys a little work. As soon as I lifted it upright, the little monkey jumped on the base, grabbed the trunk with both hands, and began flaying it back and forth.
Now it looks like “Treearoo – the Charlie Brown edition”. “The Leaning Treearoo of Pisa”. Basically; it looks like it’s had it.
I dismantled it in a huff, Tilja got upset, and I figured that was it – no tree this time around.
After Tilja was put to bed for the night, I gave it another try, just to see how bad the damage was. It did indeed lean, but a few oversized washers could fix that. I decided to assemble the poor thing, and see how the little girl would react to it in the morning.
The next day, she looked at it, carefully touched the painted tips of some branches, and generally left it alone. It’s been there a few days now.
We’ve had her around two other trees over the holidays. Both were bigger than ours – the latest one was emourmous – and aside from an interest in a few select ornaments, she has treated the trees with respect. It’s not really even our doing. We say she should be careful – at the outset – but aside from that, she has been on her own interacting with them.
On the whole; trees + kids = ok
Treearoo Tip: assemble the thing yourself, while the kids are otherwise occupied.