What do plastic needles taste like?

Resslin' Around, by Casey Ressler

Kaiya, quit eating the Christmas tree," Garred said to his daughter. Welcome to the world of being a parent around Christmas time.

Kaiya is the 1-year-old daughter of a good friend of mine, and she was chomping on the needles of their Christmas tree while her daddy talked to me on the phone. At least it wasn't a real tree -- it was plastic needles she was eating, something I'm sure dentists are happy to hear.

Eating the Christmas tree is just one peril of having a toddler when the holidays roll around. Our child is now 2, and old enough to know what is going on with Christmas. She even found one present in the closet, knew it was our feeble attempt at hiding it and demanded it right then. Needless to say, she got her Dora the Explorer video last week instead of on Dec. 25.

Having a toddler opens your eyes to all sorts of holiday hazards. Before becoming a father, one extension cord seemed OK for 25 strands of lights, and resting that extension cord with 25 plug-ins dangerously close to water was cool too. As long as we could get the tree up before kickoff was my main concern.

Now, as a dad, I've analyzed every escape route from the house in the event our house burns down thanks to the lights. Every strand of light goes into its own receptacle, even if that means running power from the neighbor's house for the month.

Shopping has also become a problem. She used to be content with anything that had curling ribbon and flashy paper, but not anymore. Now there's a list to buy from, and we've fallen victim to the marketing devils at Nickelodeon.

Our list includes all the must-haves for toddlers -- Blues Clues, Bob the Builder (my personal favorite) and Dora the Explorer.

Thankfully, Spongebob Squarepants is a few years down the road.

Christmas is a time to enjoy. Of course, I just wish I had time. I lost that luxury the moment I became a father.

Casey Ressler (valleylife@frontiersman.com) is the Valley Life editor. His favorite Nick Jr. character is Bob the Builder's loader, named Scoop.