December 27th, 2019

It was a lovely  Christmas of course. A Beautiful Christmas in fact. And everything looked so festive and so pretty. But let's face it, Christmas is now over for this year and it won't roll around for another 365 days.  So the next question is:  When do we undecorate?

I actually read an article about this yesterday.  There is one very strong  belief that says the tree can absolutely positively NOT be taken down until after New Years Day because that would be bad luck.  And then there is another equally strong feeling that says the tree absolutely positively MUST be taken down before the New Year because otherwise, that would be bad luck.  Yikes!  Hard to find a middle ground there. Unless perhaps the tree is taken down during the strokes of midnight between one year and the next!

If January 1st (or 2nd if you are nursing a hangover) feels kind of late to be dealing with packing away Christmas, it might interest you to know that some folks would prefer to leave the tree up longer actually. According to the Catholic religion, the tree needs to stay decorated until January 7th.  It's true!  There are some hardliners who feel that the 12-days of Christmas do not actually begin until December 25 which means it rolls on to Epiphany 12 days later.  Which was a surprise to me. I honestly thought the 12 days of Christmas ended on Christmas Day. I had that completely backwards.

Regardless of which school of thought you lean toward, I  think we can all agree that a tree should come down before it becomes a fire hazard, right?    But with the advent of much prettier and more affordable faux trees, I suppose it doesn't really matter how long the tree stays up.

I actually know people who leave their artificial trees up year 'round.  They redecorate according to each holiday and/or season. I have to ask though.  If your Tree is up year 'round, no matter how it is decorated month to month,  would it feel less special at Christmas time? I think it would to me.  Part of the magic of Christmas decorations is that it's different than usual, unique and distinctly "Christmas".    And truthfully, if you leave a tree up year 'round, I have to assume that either they have a very small tree or a very big house.  

It's one of my biggest Christmas Tree issues.  As much as I love the tree all pretty and lit up and decorated, it takes up a considerable amount of space!   And the smaller the house, the bigger the tree feels (regardless of it's actual size).  In fact, now that I think about it, in my life, the tree absolutely came down earlier when we lived in smaller places than larger ones. Hmmm interesting.  A room size/undecorate date correlation. 

I also know people (I am related to some of them) who, while they adore their Christmas decorations, take the tree and related decorations down the day after Christmas.  Some people even take it down late Christmas day.  Christmas is over, we are moving on.  And that's fine too. To each his or her own. We all do what we do.
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There is no one right answer here, only the answer that is right for you.

It's the same thing with putting the tree up.  I know people who put their tree up the day after Thanksgiving.  Others who wait until Christmas Eve.  Most people fall somewhere in the middle.  But I wonder if the families who put their decorations up early also take it down early?  Just  curious.

I found several articles claiming that people who put up decorations early for the holidays are happier (in general)  than those who do not.  Seriously?  The same articles suggest that people who do outside Christmas decorations are seen as friendlier and more neighborly then those who do not.  I think I am guilty of being judgy of people who do not put lights up outside at Christmas.  And this year, I am guilty too.

While I did decorate the bejeebers out of the inside of the house, I hung zero lights outside for a change.  The wreath went on the door of course, but if you recall, I was sick for  most of December and somehow I just couldn't pull together enough energy to climb up and down (and up and down and up and down...) the ladder to put up lights.  By the time I was healthy and rested again it was so close to the 25th that it seemed silly to go to all that effort for just a few days.  Which sounds like a lazybutt excuse doesn't  it?  Guilty as charged.

Yesterday, emtionally,  I was ready to take down the tree.  It just kind of was bothering me.  Taking up space. Looking untidy.  Things out of order in the house. I'm not sure why I was feeling that way, but I was ready.  And then  the mail came and we got two more Christmas cards.  And all those other feelings went away. So I decided that was an indication that technically it was still the Christmas Season and I needed to get over myself. I decided that I could deal with the decor for a few more days.

Today on the other hand,  it's gloomy and grey and breezy and a little chilly and I suspect rain is on it's way.  The family room (where the tree is) feels kind of dark and dreary.  So a few minutes ago I turned on the tree lights and it made me smile and now I'm glad I didn't give in and pack it all up yesterday.

But it will come down. Eventually.  Maybe one day next week.  Maybe even New Years Day.  Start out 2020 by packing away the Christmas of 2019.  Yeah, that sounds about right.