On the Fourth Day of Christmas: Four Christmas Tree Ornaments

Kelle Jo exerted her influence on our Christmas celebrations very early; at age two she happily joined us in decorating the house, baking cookies and wrapping presents. We soon realized, however, that Kelle had her own opinions and her own way of doing things. As we unpacked the few tree ornaments we owned, she appointed herself as sole hanger. As we watched, it became apparent that her plan and will was to have each and every decoration within her grasp, sight and power; when she was finished, every last bell and ball hung two feet off the floor on one single branch of the 8-foot tree.

After a mild battle and failed attempt to reason with this kid about visual balance, I quit resisting and let her go.  She'd soon be in bed, I thought, and I'd simply redistribute the ornaments. When I went to bed that night, each branch was equally sparse in decor.

As soon as Kelle arose from her crib the next morning, she ran to the tree, saw that all the balls and bells had been moved, and had a holy cow. Before noon that day, all the decorations were once more hanging on one very tired, deeply bowed branch. And that's the way the tree stayed until we took it down in the new year. Oh well, I thought; she'll be older next year and things will be different.

And things were different; in the meantime, we had Kara!