In years past my mother, who was already in her eighties, babysat a little three-year-old girl.
As Christmas drew near I thought it would be fun to bring this child her own little Christmas tree to decorate. I gathered up a bunch of unbreakable ornaments I had, then went in search of a tree. I found a little three-foot-tall tree at a lot near my house.
I didn't know how well a three-year-old could decorate a tree, but thought she could at least try. And she totally surprised us! She carefully placed the ornaments, one-by-one, walking around the tree with each one to make sure there were no bare places on the tree. She did a remarkable job for her age. It looked really pretty.
This whole scene was priceless to watch. When she was through she sat down (on a large, wrapped package) to admire her work. Her face glowed and her eyes were filled with delight. As she was sitting there, someone came and knocked at the front door. She jumped up to go see who was there, tripped on a throw rug, and went flying right into the middle of her tree, knocking the tree over. The ornaments went flying in every direction. She was devastated! She cried and she wailed. It was like her whole magical world had fallen apart.
It took a little time to comfort her, but then I encouraged her to pick the tree up and put all the ornaments on again. (It's a good thing they were unbreakable). So she started over and once again decorated her little tree. After I left I'm sure she adjusted and re-adjusted the placement of the ornaments. She was very precise about the way it looked. It was her very own little tree!!!
© 2011 Arlene Schwartzkopf