What’s that you say? There are only a dozen days left before Christmas and we have yet to put up our tree? Please. That’s nothing to this family of procrastinators.

And just in case there are others out there in the same boat — Bueller? Hello? I know we can’t be the only ones! — who may need some guidance on the best way to decorate the tree based on their children’s ages, here’s an instructional from the ever-so-delightful How to Be a Dad.

J and I have talked about dragging our tree out of storage and getting it set up, preferably while both girls are asleep. However, we think that Claire would love being a part of the process this year, so we’re willing to risk our delicate ornaments and ask her to help decorate the tree.

As for keeping the tree safe from the kids? We’ll use our go-to form of baby-proofing: place a bunch of crap below and around the object of interest. (Although in this case, our plan may backfire as the “crap” will consist of bright, shiny, colorful piles of wrapped gifts.)

Christmas, Christmas time is here, time for joy and time for cheer… (Because as annoying as the Chipmunks can be, I still maintain that this song is a Christmas classic!)