Christmas Tree Decorating Done Right

We decorated the Christmas tree today! Super Cooper couldn’t have been more excited.

His anxiety about the day started early but we were able to talk through it without any issues.

We visited the tree farm, he helped pick out the tree and we loaded it up in the truck…in under 6 minutes. No lie. The people selling the trees laughed at how fast we were. Let’s just say our family knows how to do things quickly.

Once home we realized the trunk was too big for the tree stand. AWESOME. So dad had to get the chainsaw out. Hello Griswold Family Christmas. Cooper made it through the whole ordeal. Thankfully.

This video makes my heart so happy. Yes, he helped. And yes, he put ornaments on.

But even more importantly, he did it with his brother. If you ever want to know how to treat a person with special needs…just look at the siblings. They will show you how to do it.

For a lot of years, when Cooper was 3, 4 and 5, I didn’t think he’d ever do anything like this. He refused to join our family. Be present. Help. Those were very tough years. This video may look silly to some people. But to me, this is what I prayed for. And I’ll take it and celebrate it.

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And for fun…Here is a super short video of Cooper decorating the Christmas tree last year.

Last year, Cooper observed us for quite some time as we decorated. I watched the wheels turning as he tried to figure out why we would be putting ‘stuff’ on a tree. He decided to join in and started grabbing items from around the room and throwing them into the tree. He’s incredibly literal.

For a whole month I dug his shoes, books, plates, sippy cups, movies and family photos out of the tree. While it drove his dad bonkers I got the giggles. If something was missing, like the remote, we knew it was in the tree.

I couldn’t film this video longer because Coops threw a storage bin into the tree.

We’ve never had a perfect tree or a perfect house. But we do have lots of joy.

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Finding Cooper’s Voice is a safe, humorous, caring and honest place where you can celebrate the unique challenges of parenting a special needs child. Because you’re never alone in the struggles you face. And once you find your people, your allies, your village….all the challenges and struggles will seem just a little bit easier. Welcome to our journey. You can also follow us on Facebook and subscribe to our newsletter.