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[Mominohio]

why do you do it that way?

Each year on here, we read about how and when others decorate for the various seasons or holidays. Some do it early, some do it late for various reasons.

The one thing I have always wondered about is why people remove their Christmas tree on the 26th of December.

Is it just tradition at your house? Is it because you go back to work and need it done (like a teacher)? Is it because you are just plain 'holidayed out' by then?

So why do you take your tree down when you do? Anyone can respond with when and why, not just those on the 26th, but that is the one that has most perplexed me over the years.

[Constance2]

My DIL takes theirs down on the 26th because she put it up on Nov. 1. Guess she is tired of it and anxious to get all the decorations put away.

[GCR18]

I used to put away Christmas decor on Jan 1.  Last couple years, I've done it the weekend after Christmas.  I do it then because I want everything cleaned up before returning to work after the 1st and I am over it by then. 

[VaBelle35]

As someone who has taken it down before Christmas, because I work and it's just me putting it up and taking it down, I have to do it when I have the time and am not working.

It's exhausting (for me) to carry a ton of heavy boxes up and down the stairs.

It's not something I choose to do on a Tuesday evening after work.

[Mary Bailey]

I take ours down when I'm tired of it, usually around New Year's Day.  I rarely take it down in December.

Then my countdown to begins!

[Mz iMac]

Prior to retirement & when the child was school age.......

Tree went up on Black Friday (day after Gobble Gobble day) & down, house cleaned on Dec. 31st.

Currently retired, empty nester......

I spend ALL holidays away from home.  No need to decorate.  BAH HUMBUG!!!

[151949]

I think some folks do such elaborate decorations that they have to start very early to put them out then again start early to get them down.

[Puppy Lips]

I would love to take it down on Dec. 26, but my husband and kids would never allow it.  When Christmas is over, it is over, in my mind and I want everything put away.  So to keep peace and avoid being called a party pooper, I take it down sometime after New Year's.

[RedTop]

I grew up in a house where the tree went up 2 weeks before Christmas, and was taken down on the 26th, and it just always seemed normal.   However, looking back, I realize we always had a live tree, covered with large heat producing bulbs, and our house was extremely warm due to our wood and coal heat.   After 2 weeks inside our hot house, that tree needed to go.  When our girls were small, our tree also went up 2 weeks before and came down the day after, because they kept pulling their favorite ornaments off the artificial tree, and hiding them in their rooms.  After 2 weeks of trying to keep the decorations on the tree, I was glad to take it down, and be rid of those decorations for another year.  I went back to work when my girls were 8 and 5, and this is when live Christmas trees became our yearly tradition.   Regardless of how much water they have, cut trees dry out in a warm house, so the earlier the tree went up, the earlier it had to come down.  Even my girls knew that when the lights started sliding off the dry branches, it was time to take the tree down.  For the next 16 years, I did not get to enjoy much time with my family at Christmas, due to my 11-7 work schedule.  By the time I went back to my normal work schedule, our live tree was history and long out the door, and I was left to restore normalcy to the house.  After I transferred to day shift in another department, Christmas changed to decorating earlier, and leaving everything out longer.  Allergies and asthma brought us back to artificial trees, but with adult children in the house, we love being able to enjoy our decorations much longer.   

[ValuSkr]

I think people take it down on the 26th because they've put it up in November and are sick of it and associated clutter.  I suspect if we put the tree up the week before Christmas (or even the night before, as some used to do), we'd enjoy it longer after Christmas.  I may do that this year.