Re: Christmas advice please

[Guest guest]

put a small tree in your bedroom for you and hubby to enjoy. for the

tree everyone sees, you can buy the wall sceens with a tree and

presents scene at party city for around $15. it wont be ideal but

would give a holiday feel if you decide not to do a big family tree

for the reasons you posted.

>

> Does anyone here have any holiday advice for handling decorations?

>

> This will be our first xmas where the boys will be mobile, and

since they are in to absolutely

> everything, and like to attack objects and knock them over I am

afraid to have a tree, but

> don't want to give up our family tradition. I know enough not to

put breakable ornaments on

> (husband thinks hanging them high will work but I don't trust it)

but do you have any tree

> tips? To have a big tree with flashing lights and things hanging on

it just seems like a bad

> idea when they fixate on things and won't leave them alone. My

husband does not want to

> give up the tree and doesn't understand what kind of stress having

to chase them away from

> it constantly will put on me, so what do we do?

>

> HELP!!

>

> TIA

>

[Guest guest]

Hi,

We were afraid too so we bought a small tree that we put up on a table and all the ornaments were child friendly. I have seen trees secured to walls as to prevent them from falling over.

Have fun!

Subject: Re: Christmas advice pleaseTo: autism-georgia Date: Wednesday, December 3, 2008, 11:19 AM

put a small tree in your bedroom for you and hubby to enjoy. for the tree everyone sees, you can buy the wall sceens with a tree and presents scene at party city for around $15. it wont be ideal but would give a holiday feel if you decide not to do a big family tree for the reasons you posted. >> Does anyone here have any holiday advice for handling decorations?> > This will be our first xmas where the boys will be mobile, and since they are in to absolutely > everything, and like to attack objects and knock them over I am afraid to have a tree, but > don't want to give up our family tradition. I know enough not to put breakable ornaments on > (husband thinks hanging them high will work but I

don't trust it) but do you have any tree > tips? To have a big tree with flashing lights and things hanging on it just seems like a bad > idea when they fixate on things and won't leave them alone. My husband does not want to > give up the tree and doesn't understand what kind of stress having to chase them away from > it constantly will put on me, so what do we do?> > HELP!!> > TIA>

[Guest guest]

You could try a wall tree that hangs on the wall, or a half tree which has a flat back and fits flush against the wall so that you could attach it to the wall with some hardware brackets. Here's a link to give you an idea of what I'm describing. You can also Google "hanging wall tree." There are also trees made specifically to fit in corners that are triangular that you could do the same thing with and they would only suffer from a frontal attack . I still, even with my son being 10, don't put lgass ornaments on the tree because he likes to hold ornaments. We just have a lot of unique resin or plastic ornaments. It also takes a lot of reminding him not to touch the tree or hands in the pockets.

http://www.nextag.com/wall-christmas-tree/stores-html

As far as gifts under the tree--we got used to them being unwrapped and until the last couple of years would wrap a few empty boxes (or stick a small already-owned toy, happy meal prize, etc., them) and put them under there and put the real stuff up until Christmas Eve/Day.

You might could also try several small trees that you put up on top of a buffet, mantle, etc., instead of one large tree, or fix them their own fiberoptic tree without ornaments that they can touch all the want and the light colors continually change. Those usually run $19-29 dollars.

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To: autism-georgia From: tatumcrew@...Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2008 16:19:14 +0000Subject: Re: Christmas advice please

put a small tree in your bedroom for you and hubby to enjoy. for the tree everyone sees, you can buy the wall sceens with a tree and presents scene at party city for around $15. it wont be ideal but would give a holiday feel if you decide not to do a big family tree for the reasons you posted. >> Does anyone here have any holiday advice for handling decorations?> > This will be our first xmas where the boys will be mobile, and since they are in to absolutely > everything, and like to attack objects and knock them over I am afraid to have a tree, but > don't want to give up our family tradition. I know enough not to put breakable ornaments on > (husband thinks hanging them high will work but I don't trust it) but do you have any tree > tips? To have a big tree with flashing lights and things hanging on it just seems like a bad > idea when they fixate on things and won't leave them alone. My husband does not want to > give up the tree and doesn't understand what kind of stress having to chase them away from > it constantly will put on me, so what do we do?> > HELP!!> > TIA>

[Guest guest]

We have a tall entertainment center and put a 2-3 ft tree fully

decorated up on top. We decorated it with ground snow, too. It was

very pretty. We just made sure everything was up and away from little

hands. My dad uses a cloth tree that's sort of 3-D and hangs on the

wall. It's like the front half of a tree, so it sticks off the wall

but not too far. It is decorated but everything is cloth and sown to

the tree. Good luck.

Happy Holidays,

Kamie

>

> Does anyone here have any holiday advice for handling decorations?

>

> This will be our first xmas where the boys will be mobile, and since

they are in to absolutely

> everything, and like to attack objects and knock them over I am

afraid to have a tree, but

> don't want to give up our family tradition. I know enough not to put

breakable ornaments on

> (husband thinks hanging them high will work but I don't trust it)

but do you have any tree

> tips? To have a big tree with flashing lights and things hanging on

it just seems like a bad

> idea when they fixate on things and won't leave them alone. My

husband does not want to

> give up the tree and doesn't understand what kind of stress having

to chase them away from

> it constantly will put on me, so what do we do?

>

> HELP!!

>

> TIA

>

[Guest guest]

Don't know the age of your kids but when my triplets were young we put a baby gate around the tree and it worked like a charm!

[Guest guest]

The past couple of years, I have just put a tiny 2 foot tree on the sideboard in the dining room and put presents around it, and there are permanent gates in the walls so Bobby can't get into that room unless I let him in there. Hubby doesn't care too much whether or not we decorate for Christmas, and I'm not Martha , so we've always been pretty minimalist on decor even before having a child. But, this year I may drag the tree out of the attic as Bobby seems to be leaving the tree in his classroom alone. It's prelit, so I'll just put ribbons on it, so nothing is breakable at all!- mom to Bobby, age 5, dx "mild" autism at age 2, very sensory-seeking, talking more and more every day, and can spell his name!

Subject: Christmas advice pleaseTo: autism-georgia Date: Wednesday, December 3, 2008, 9:15 AM

Does anyone here have any holiday advice for handling decorations?This will be our first xmas where the boys will be mobile, and since they are in to absolutely everything, and like to attack objects and knock them over I am afraid to have a tree, but don't want to give up our family tradition. I know enough not to put breakable ornaments on (husband thinks hanging them high will work but I don't trust it) but do you have any tree tips? To have a big tree with flashing lights and things hanging on it just seems like a bad idea when they fixate on things and won't leave them alone. My husband does not want to give up the tree and doesn't understand what kind of stress having to chase them away from it constantly will put on me, so what do we do?HELP!!TIA

[Guest guest]

For a few years we did this too -- put the tree in a room that we could close off so that our son was only in there when we were with him. Now that he is older he is great with the tree -- although in years past it was sometimes as much as a chore as family fun we always included him in the tree decorating (sometimes hand over hand), but now, he knows how to help and puts on some of the ornaments completely by himself. He loves the lights and loves to get really close to look at himself in some of the bigger, ball, glass ornaments that reflect but understands now that he can look, but not touch --- maybe since he helps put it up, he doesn't want it to come down?

Christmas advice please

To: autism-georgia

Date: Wednesday, December 3, 2008, 9:15 AM

Does anyone here have any holiday advice for handling decorations?

This will be our first xmas where the boys will be mobile, and since they are in to absolutely

everything, and like to attack objects and knock them over I am afraid to have a tree, but

don't want to give up our family tradition. I know enough not to put breakable ornaments on

(husband thinks hanging them high will work but I don't trust it) but do you have any tree

tips? To have a big tree with flashing lights and things hanging on it just seems like a bad

idea when they fixate on things and won't leave them alone. My husband does not want to

give up the tree and doesn't understand what kind of stress having to chase them away from

it constantly will put on me, so what do we do?

HELP!!

TIA

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