Goldie Tree Lights On

Way back when our son was very little, about two and a half, my husband and I always paid very close attention to what he liked or was attracted to so that we'd be certain to get him things he enjoyed for Christmas.

As well as the obligatory pajamas, of course.

But like nearly every child, Jesse had his own ideas of what constituted the best parts of Christmas.

He had this small wooden chair that I had made a pad for. It was light and he could put it wherever he needed a chair. As soon as our tree was up, Jesse would come find one of us in order to get us to plug in the lights.

"Jesse tree lights on," he''d say. Then he'd position that chair in front of the tree to watch the lights blink, inspect the ornaments and just enjoy having this pretty thing in our midst.

He's a lot older now but we have a cocker spaniel named Goldie who willingly plays the part of the two-year old in our lives—every day. Jay made this tree many years ago. It packs away easily, is set up easily, and fits on top of our coffee table right next to Goldie's favorite chair.

Every so often, she seems to remember the tree, leaning over the arm of the chair to sniff at the ormaments. But her favorite seems to be the pair of stuffed penguins that we put on the top.

So this year, it's "Goldie tree lights on."

Hope you all had a great holiday. We spent the day learning how to play a new-to-us board game called the Settlers of Catan. It's a good one.

We're expecting a snowy walloping starting later today. Should be interesting.