It's just a little 4-foot-tall artificial tree, but it's the first Christmas tree that is all mine, so it's special. We put it up on a table so it would appear taller. You may also notice that there are no ornaments on the bottom row of branches. That's because I have two little kitties who think the ornaments are just too much fun.
As a note to anyone struggling with keeping their cats out of the Christmas tree, two years ago when I first got this tree, I thought I would NEVER be able to put it up in my living room. The cats just got right up inside that little tree and scaled it, knocking off all of my decorations in the process. I had settled on just having it in my bedroom and keeping the door shut, but it was kind of depressing to not be able to see my Christmas tree very often.
This year, I decided I would try a new strategy. I set up the Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving, but didn't plug it in or put any decorations on it for about a week. Instead, I sat by the tree whenever I was home with a water bottle in my hand. If the cats looked like they were going to try and climb the tree, or start nibbling on it, I would squirt them. I was truly skeptical about whether or not this would actually work, but it did! Within a week, I had decorated the tree and not a single ornament has come off all month. I think it helped that my cats didn't seem to realize where the water came from. I generally shot them quickly and from behind, which caused them to leap off and look around, like, "what the heck was that?" So they just associated a fear of getting squirted with water with being near the Christmas tree. Perhaps that sounds kind of mean, but now I can have my Christmas tree in the living room again, and I couldn't be happier about it!
Have a Merry Christmas everyone!
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