Why I Still Choose to Decorate for the Holidays—Even Through the Chaos of Childhood (And Why I Almost Didn't)

There’s a certain kind of magic that settles into a home when the holidays draw near. Twinkle lights soften the edges of long winter nights, pine branches bring the scent of the forest indoors, and familiar ornaments tug memories from years we’ve lived and ones we’re still hoping for.

And even in a season of little hands, sticky fingers, curious toddlers, and toys scattered across the floor, I still choose to decorate our home beautifully with each holiday and season.

But I'll be honest - I almost didn't publish this blog...

The Tree-Toppling Moment That Put Me to The Test

When we returned home after Thanksgiving, we set up the beautiful Christmas tree we'd cut - carefully chosen, full, just about perfectly shaped for its spot. We decorated it magically, savoring an entire afternoon (it took 5 hours) as a family of putting up lights and ornaments. The last 30 minutes was dedicated to my careful assessment of any holes and filling the gaps with specific ornaments until it truly was Pinterest perfect. It could have been a postcard. I felt like super mom, winning at giving my kids a magical Christmas. We'd made the tree spectacularly pretty and no one had a meltdown.

Then, the other afternoon, I heard the unmistakable sound of trouble: the scamper of a baby, a toddler, and a dog in fast pursuit (or retreat) of…something. I looked up from the sink just in time to watch our towering, sparkling tree tip, wobble, and come crashing down onto the floor. And boy, was it a crash.

What few breakable ornaments I've kept over the years - everything I had placed high and “safe” - shattered. The branches were mangled. The lights tangled. Special ornaments I’d kept for years were in pieces. And for a moment, I was done. 3 days my beautiful tree had survived. Only 3. I told my husband, “Just get rid of it - I don’t want a tree.”

It was the opposite of everything I preach here.

But after more than a few tears and an hour of trying to straighten my no longer perfect pine, I remembered: the tree isn’t for me, and it certainly isn’t for Pinterest. It’s for my kids. For the wonder in their eyes. For the joy of the season. For the fact that it’s our baby boy’s first Christmas.

So we stood it back up (still uncertain how it came crashing down in the first place), reinforced the base, tried to right the broken branches, swept up the mess, rehung what could be rehung, and chose - again - to embrace the imperfect beauty of this season.

Kids really do keep you honest.

And so, with a heart of humility and the acknowledgement that it is HARD to want to keep a beautiful home through the chaos of childhood, I'm still hitting publish to tell you the tested and tried truth - it isn't easy, but it is worth it.

A Beautiful Home Builds a Beautiful Childhood

When I decorate for the holidays, in my heart of hearts, it’s not because I’m chasing perfection or creating a magazine-worthy living room (although I do like it that way). I do it because a beautiful, warm, welcoming environment shapes childhood in quiet, powerful ways.

Children remember the glow of the tree at bedtime.

They remember the scent of pine and cinnamon in the air.

They remember the music playing while cookies bake and snow falls outside.

These details - small or even vain as they may seem - create the sense of wonder that roots deep in little hearts. It’s not about the decorations themselves… it’s about the feeling they help build. I know because its those things I remember from my own childhood.

A beautiful home becomes the backdrop to a beautiful childhood. And beauty in our home isn’t fragile - it’s lived in, loved in, and full of fingerprints.

Nothing Is Too Precious for a Life Well-Lived

The truth is, things will break. Ribbons will unravel. Ornaments might roll under the couch or be carried around in little pockets. That gorgeous Pinterest idea you put together may be turned into a toy within the hour. Your perfectly curated Christmas tree may destroyed like a scene from Christmas Vacation. And that’s okay.

Holiday decor in a home with young children should be resilient, flexible, and joy-filled- not guarded behind glass. If something is so treasured that I’d be heartbroken to lose it, it’s probably best kept for a later season of life.

Everything else? Fair game.

Because the only truly sacred thing in our home is us - the laughter, the traditions, the shared experiences, the memories being made right in the middle of the mess.

A faux tree in the family room corner that is "on limits" for decorating and playing with

Tips on How to Decorate for the Holidays with Little Kids (Without Losing Your Mind or the Magic)

These aren’t rules, just practices we've set (that are still evolving) in our home that allow us to keep the house festive without the stress:

• Lower your expectations, raise the ambience: Focus on atmosphere - lights, greenery, scents, music - not breakable decor. Ambience is what kids remember anyway.

  
  

• Create a “kid-friendly zone:” Place wooden ornaments, felt garlands, soft nativity sets, and safe decorations at their height so they can engage and explore without worry. Will your baby pull balls off the tree when they're at eye level? Absolutely - make sure they're balls he's allowed to have. Will your toddler use the nativity set as a dollhouse? Probably - put the heirloom set away and trade it for wood, felt, or fabric.

  
  

• Use real or handmade elements: Pinecones, oranges, greenery, paper snowflakes, cranberries, yarn garlands - simple, inexpensive, replaceable items that still create warmth.

  
  

• Anchor sentimental things high: If there are a few sentimental pieces you love, put them well out of reach (but beware of the toppling tree) and let other things be hands-on.

  
  

• Let them decorate with you: Let the tree be bottom-heavy. Let it be imperfect. Let their joy be part of the design. Give them a little tree in their room to decorate or a kids tree outdoors that's imperfectly theirs.

Tip: I've seen that nothing is more enticing to kids than what is off-limits. Making things "on-limits" and allowing them to engage with our decorations has taken away their curious need to touch what they're not supposed to.

• Choose rituals over perfection: Evening tree lighting, reading by the fire, hot cocoa after decorating - these are the moments that settle into memories.

  
  

The Heart of It All: A Setting for the Moments That Matter

In the end, holiday decorating with littles is less about achieving a certain look and more about creating spaces where special moments naturally take shape.

The glow of the tree becomes a place for stories. The evergreen garland you gathered together brings the scent of the outdoors inside. The soft lights make ordinary evenings feel extraordinary.

Someday, your children won’t remember which ornaments matched or whether the garland hung straight. But they will remember how home felt. How Christmas felt. How you made each season special - not because of what you put in the house, but because of how you lived within it.

And that is why I decorate - joyfully, imperfectly, wholeheartedly - every year. Even when the chaos catches up with us and the tree comes crashing down. Because nothing is sacred in this house except the people in it.