Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in Saint Louis, MO

One day, I will have a perfect Christmas tree. It will be lit with sparkling blue and white strings of lights with branches weighed down with shiny, glass ornaments. This year? Our tree is the complete opposite of that vision but is perfect for our young children.

We chose an artificial, pre-lit tree for our home because my daughter is allergic to pine trees but even if she wasn't, our kids would no doubt help free the needles from the branches. Our artificial tree is fairly sturdy and most of the fake needles are stil hanging from bendable, metal branches. Our particular tree is very simple to assemble as it is made up of three large pieces marked "A, B, C". The children helped "fluff" the branches and get it ready for ornaments which made it a family affair.

Our ornament boxes were brimming with fragile and sentimental ornaments that never made it out of the box. This is my main tip for creating the perfect Christmas tree for kids- don't use ornaments that you don't want to lose. I would rather allow my children to enjoy our tree and play with non-breakable ornaments than constantly patrol them and get angry when they remove a heirloom piece. I did hang a few special "Baby's First" ornaments on the tree but only on the very top branches to prevent the kids from reaching them. All of the other ornaments are at kid level are plastic and they have thrown a few toys and action figurines on to the branches next to the hanging balls and baubles. They have also removed every single ornament at their level before laying them out on the floor and playing with them. I could have been angry when I found my tree freed of all of its decorations but I chose to laugh and make hanging them back up a game.

Traditionally, I enjoy displaying a nativity scene under the tree but I knew it would never last this year with our young kids. A friend came up with a great solution to this when she bought and set up a Fisher Price Little People Nativity Scene. It is non-breakable, cute and can be used as a teaching aid for explaining the nativity. It was also amusing when Hello Kitty ended up in the manger next to Mary and Joseph.

Christmas should be a time for appreciating and enjoying your family and by taking the steps to make season decorations kid friendly, you will prevent a lot of aggravation later. One day, the kids will be grown and you can hang the breakable ornaments while reminiscing about the days when your tree had all its ornaments on the bottom fourth of the tree and Barbie dolls hanging from its branches. It is the most special kind of tree.