A Toddler's "Pretty" Christmas

For many, many years my Christmas decorating has commenced on the day after Thanksgiving and completed before heading to work the following Monday morning. This year has been very different for one delightful reason. My one-year-old granddaughter has created a holiday dilemma. She's at our house 2 or 3 days per week and my house has been undergoing a major toddler proofing!

Little Allison and I have enjoyed several shopping trips in recent weeks and thoroughly enjoyed experiencing pretty Christmas trees and decorations at a local garden center and the home improvement stores. It has been a complete delight to introduce so many bright, sparkling, beautiful things to her. I knew she would be amazed to see a Christmas tree at home. Now, one of her very first words is "pretty". She points to Christmas trees and other decorations and says her version of "pretty". It is absolutely adorable!

Since moving to our house in 2020 I've collected some beautiful gold and green glass Christmas ornaments. In our modern cottage I've taken a low-key approach to Christmas color and it's been calm, cozy, and beautiful in our open concept living room. This style has been modified this year, minimized to decorate the tree with ribbons, beads, and non-glass ornaments. The tree is sparkly and beautiful, although I do miss the glass ornaments and a section of lights that have gone out. For the first time the top is adorned by a tree topper that my mom purchased as a newlywed in 1962. I finally saw a "hack" using a dowel rod and zip ties to attach this small circumference ornament base to the tree. I don't think this topper has been on a tree in over 35 years. It looks perfect.

Our lower-level family room tree is adorned with the assorted ornaments our family has accumulated over the years. There are some treasured mementoes in the collection that are hanging high on the tree this year. Allison's attraction to pretty things was out of control a couple of weeks ago. One day I just gave up as she un-decorated the lowest section of the family room tree bringing me one ornament at a time. I now tell her, "it won't be pretty if you keep taking the ornaments off."

The coffee table in my living room normally is decorated with greenery, votive candles and a small porcelin nativity set, this year it is adorned with the Fisher Price nativity set. The toddler friendly animals, wisemen, and Holy family bring a "yes, you can touch this" element that I think is so important. I don't want Allison to experience her first Christmas continually being told "no-no, don't touch that". I've now walked the gauntlet of nativity characters strewn on the floor and repeatedly pressing the angel on the stable to play a mechanical round of "Away in a Manger". We sing along and Allison dances to this traditional tune as she is learning the traditions of Christmas.

More photos of the collections that adorn our main living area. Every vignette has a story.

In my kitchen I'm featuring a little quilt I made several years ago with a miniature tree and adorable candy and cookie baking ornaments.

The dining room table is prepared for casual and fancy parties and dinners. This year I'm featuring my collection of vintage ornaments. It's a hodge-podge collection of ornaments from my grandmothers, my mother, and a few of my own. By Christmas Day I'll bring out the Lenox Christmas china that belonged to my mom and red water glasses that were her mother's. The table runner and placemats all bring a joyful backdrop for the season.

Mike's study is on the front of our house and is the perfect spot for our Danish themed Christmas tree. This sparsely branch tree is perfect for our handmade Danish hearts and other Scandinavian ornaments. This is his early morning place for "hygge" and it looks pretty from the street.

My modern cottage isn't decorated following the latest trends, but is a joy filled layering of generations and traditions. From the card basket my great-grandmother made to the new little nativity set I'm representing generations of women who made Christmas special within our family. I'm bridging our past to our future. What an honor to do this through decorations, food, and lots of hugs.

"Pretty"