Saturday, December 8, 2012

In Which My Four-Year-Old Neighbor "Helps" Me Decorate The Tree

I was still in a bathrobe this morning and pulling out Christmas decorations when there was a pounding on my front door.  Recognizing the vigor and height of the sound as belonging to the efforts of my most frequent visitor, 4-year-old O. from next door, I opened the door in spite of my attire.  O. was there with his mom J., who had run over to ask me the first name of a neighbor so she could address a gift properly.  O., of course, came right into the house and went straight for the Christmas decorations.
"Who are those stockings for? What are these?  What's this?  A gingerbread man!  I want a gingerbread man! Can I hang this one?  Where's the star?  What do you put on top of your tree?  We put a star.  Where's your star?  Why is it Harry Potter?  We have a STAR.  Can I hang up Harry Potter?  Why not?  Can I hang this one?  What's this?  Can I hang this one?  I wanna hang THAT one!"
Actually, it was not at all unlike working with a roomful of 7th graders; the stream of questions isn't all that much different.
And now the decorations are placed on the tree -- all of them on the branches that hang at eye level to a 4-year-old  (except for Harry Potter on his broom and reaching for the snitch, which is in its proper place at the top).
O. got the gingerbread man he coveted (as I had put it in the pile to give away anyway), and, in a few minutes, I'm going to go and move most of the decorations onto the upper limbs.  O. will never notice.

2 comments:

  1. Well, at least he got them half way there, saved you the trouble of getting them out of the box. sort of.

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  2. So -- one four year old is like a room of 7th graders? Or is one 7th grader the equal of one 4 year old?

    What an energetic addition to your Saturday morning. Hope I get to see your tree when I am in UT next week.

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