Our Post Christmas Incident

From the minute we erected our Christmas tree at the start of the month and filled the house with lights and tinsel we feared the possibilities with a toddler crashing his way from room to room with an enthusiasm that never wanes. You couldn't blame us. Clayton is a walking tornado of destruction and it always seems like we are on tenderhooks waiting for the next big crash! The tree had only been up 20 minutes before we captured this photo. It was just a matter of time.

At work the next day, I mentioned that we had decorated our house for Christmas and showed them the photo. People were immediately interested in how long the tree would last before falling or being damaged. We ran a little sweepstake and each day people would ask about the trees health. What people didn't realise though was the tree was almost entirely decorated with collectible Disney ornaments. Disney ornaments capture his attention, but they resemble toys. Well Clayton doesn't play with toys. Why would he? Why would he do as he is supposed to do, when he can play with wires, plug sockets, door stopper, shoes, chainsaws, and barbed wire instead? And so, after day 1 had passed and he had eyed each Disney ornament the once, he was no longer interested in the stupid tree. He rarely even went near it. There was only one colleague that had faith in little Clayton, predicting that the tree would survive until after Christmas Day. Here is the Facebook message I sent to his earlier today to let him know his faith had been repaid.

Dear Mr Newman,

I would show you a photograph of the catastrophic damage and chaos. I'd love to show you the 'after' photo but I'm afraid that it doesn't exist. Lucky for all of us, Clayton still does...