Community Chat

[scatcat]

In our last house, the tree took up half the front room. It was nice, but fat. Couldn't wait to take it down 

[Mominohio]

I don't really judge people about when the decorations go up and come down, even if they leave them up all year. For the most part, I feel it is based on people's individual needs and circumstances.

What I do find a little odd is when you have kids, and they are off between Christmas and New Years, why anyone would put it all away early. Kids are only kids for a short time, and I would be willing to be 'inconvenienced' to keep the magic up for them until they started back to school. 

[Irshgrl31201]

We put up our decorations (3 trees, one in formal living room, one in family room and one in my room) a little before Thanksgiving. We have garland with white lights all over the house as well as villages and a 3 foot santa on a sleigh with all the reindeer. The front of our house has white lights all over the trees (like Tavern on the Green) and wreathes on all the doors. 

To be honest, I hate it when the decorations come down. I love Christmas and the house seems so cold and sterile once it is down. My grandson loves it too.

My florist and his helpers come to my house to help me with it all and they will be here on the 6th to take it all down and pack it up and put the boxes in the basement. I absolutely love decorations but I put so many up now, if it were up to just me, I wouldn't do it. I help them put the trees up and they do the rest. When it comes to taking it down, they put it all away including wrapping the ornaments. I gladly pay them to do this because I hate doing it. It takes me a couple of weeks to get used to the non decorated house. I feel a little depressed during that time.

Everyone does things they like to do. I personally could never take down the tree on Christmas day or the day after, I think that is just too soon but I have friends who don't like leaving it up so long like I do. When you pay the bills in your house, you get to decide how things are done!! Different strokes for different folks. 

[Marienkaefer2]

When I was a kid, we usually put up our Christmas tree and other decorations about two weeks before Christmas, and took them down New Year's Day.

As an adult, I started it doing it Thanksgiving weekend, and usually take them down New Year's Day, but it varies.  I do a woodland theme, so I leave greens, etc out until end January.

One year I took all the ornaments, etc off the tree, and just left the prelit tree up until the first weekend in February.  I like the tree and lights, and it lights up our dark winter days.  I like seeing it on when I come home from work.

My sister, on the other hand, takes her tree down and has everything put away by Dec. 27th!

But she's a teacher, and this is her week off.  After school starts, she won't have a lot of free time to put things away.  She wants to enjoy her New Year's weekend without the pressure of thinking of decorations.

[x Hedge]

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@sweetee2 wrote:

You are probably  right.  They do put their tree up the day after Thanksgiving. 

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Sounds like they were up a reasonable length of time @sweetee2. Better to take them down and leave the kids wanting more, than to leave them up until the kids recoil at the suggestion of putting up holiday decorations next year.

[Iwantcoffee]

When I was a child, my parents and I would open gifts Christmas morning, have lunch, and the tree and decoration would come down that afternoon. For my parents, Christmas was over so the decorations came down. I think we put the decorations 10 days or so before Christmas.

My husband does not celebrate Christmas, so there are no Christmas decorations here.

[Burnsite]

I haven't read all the replies, but am just peeking into the forums and answering the OP's question.  It does seem they come down earlier today.  When I was growing up, people (even those who were not Catholics) kept everything up til the Epiphany (Jan 6).  But in our day people put up their trees much, much earlier.  Those with live trees and kids have to take them down right after Christmas if they have been up for 2+ weeks.  The custom has just changed over the years, I guess.

I would never have a real tree in S FL, as it's simply too hot out on my patio, so getting up and putting away is just a matter of shuttling my artificial tree from my patio to my garage.

This year, I am a bit overtasked, doing work at home, and the tree only got up on Christmas Eve.  But I am going away next week and with a break-in and robbery last June, will leave nothing out on my patio for several days when I am not here.  So I will take it down probably on the 1st. 

Was it worth it, having it up for a week?  I think it meant more, esp. on Christmas Day.  Those trees, they just take me back to my childhood, especially as of course I display family ornaments as well as those I have collected. 

As mine is outside, and is artificial, there is little muss or fuss no matter how long the tree is up.  People with live trees in their house have to be prudent and dismantle them before they become unsafe.

[ECBG]

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@Burnsite wrote:

I haven't read all the replies, but am just peeking into the forums and answering the OP's question.  It does seem they come down earlier today.  When I was growing up, people (even those who were not Catholics) kept everything up til the Epiphany (Jan 6).  But in our day people put up their trees much, much earlier.  Those with live trees and kids have to take them down right after Christmas if they have been up for 2+ weeks.  The custom has just changed over the years, I guess.

I would never have a real tree in S FL, as it's simply too hot out on my patio, so getting up and putting away is just a matter of shuttling my artificial tree from my patio to my garage.

This year, I am a bit overtasked, doing work at home, and the tree only got up on Christmas Eve.  But I am going away next week and with a break-in and robbery last June, will leave nothing out on my patio for several days when I am not here.  So I will take it down probably on the 1st. 

Was it worth it, having it up for a week?  I think it meant more, esp. on Christmas Day.  Those trees, they just take me back to my childhood, especially as of course I display family ornaments as well as those I have collected. 

As mine is outside, and is artificial, there is little muss or fuss no matter how long the tree is up.  People with live trees in their house have to be prudent and dismantle them before they become unsafe.

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@BurnsiteDH and I have always had a live tree.  It went up Thanksgiving weekend and was down by the 31st because as a teacher I couldn't redo the house and do exams.

[dooBdoo]

         Maybe this is just my experience, but it seems to me that Christmas decor was much simpler when I was a kid.    It was the exception, rather than the rule, to see  houses' exteriors and interiors lavishly decorated.    I recall more simplicity.   A simple, single tree (inside), a few holiday touches on the mantle or a table, a wreath on the door, sometimes candles in the windows, maybe a string of lights outside.    Decorations slowly appeared after Thanksgiving, and remained until New Year's Day or shortly after.    So, perhaps we've placed so much emphasis on early and more expansive decor that we tire of it more easily and want to remove it all a bit sooner than in the past.  I also think merchandisers push the season in our faces for so darned many months all year, and that can cause a "holiday burnout" or "holiday fatigue."   What once was a joy becomes a chore.