Do I Really Have to Kill Christmas?
Today was supposed to be the big day. January 2oth was the arbitrary deadline I gave myself to take down the Christmas decorations. With only 53 minutes left to go the lights on the artificial tree are still shining merrily and I'm reassessing my commitment.
My husband is one of those people who thinks Christmas should come down on New Year's day but taking down Christmas isn't one of my talents. I never wake up and think, 'gee, this house looks too cheerful. I'm sure sick of looking at all those pretty Christmas cards. And what is that stinky wreath doing on my front door?' True, there is some trick to maintaining Christmas almost a month after the fact. My three year old has been pulling down any Christmas cards she can reach from the walls. The 2 foot Christmas tree I bought for the kitchen died while we were in Texas over the holidays but it didn't loose its color. If I keep it very still, the pine leaves won't shake off and it still resembles a symbol of life. The red and green paper chains I strung around the dining room chandelier got stuck in the broom handle and came down ignominiously last week. But nothing is going willingly.
How long is too long to keep up the decorations? Is there a way to do it that isn't completely depressing? I always find that the day the tree comes down is a bleak one. Is it wrong to keep the tree up all year? Because unless I'm compelled to do otherwise, I just might.
My husband is one of those people who thinks Christmas should come down on New Year's day but taking down Christmas isn't one of my talents. I never wake up and think, 'gee, this house looks too cheerful. I'm sure sick of looking at all those pretty Christmas cards. And what is that stinky wreath doing on my front door?' True, there is some trick to maintaining Christmas almost a month after the fact. My three year old has been pulling down any Christmas cards she can reach from the walls. The 2 foot Christmas tree I bought for the kitchen died while we were in Texas over the holidays but it didn't loose its color. If I keep it very still, the pine leaves won't shake off and it still resembles a symbol of life. The red and green paper chains I strung around the dining room chandelier got stuck in the broom handle and came down ignominiously last week. But nothing is going willingly.
How long is too long to keep up the decorations? Is there a way to do it that isn't completely depressing? I always find that the day the tree comes down is a bleak one. Is it wrong to keep the tree up all year? Because unless I'm compelled to do otherwise, I just might.
Comments
If it makes you feel better our tree is still up too, and our indoor Christmas lights have been up for the last three years.
Of course, that would be on years when we decorate. This year? Not so much with the decorating (either here in Indiana or my parent's place in Texas.)
If you want decorations up all year, more power to you. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with it, except that a live (or dead now) tree is probably a fire hazard. :(
I always have a difficult time tearing down the twinkles and the sparkles that make my holiday what it is. Then there is the folding and packing away all the finery on the tables and hearth, etc. Yeah, it's depressing. I like me some glitter and silver.
But in the sparseness of the newly cleaned rooms comes that freshness of a new year ---and all that rot.
The flip side of this is that when the tree is left up all year it is beautiful, but doesn't have near the WOW factor it does when it just appears one chilly day in early December.
When the little ones get "used to" your Christmas tree, it somehow loses magic.
My only advise it this, sweet HOLLY-wood, put it away now so that it is AMAZING when you see it again next year. Celebrate it with a bang and make it a tradition to go overboard.
This doesn't mean that you can't go out and gear up for every other holiday...I'm all over that hearts and flowers party that's comin' up! Got me a new Mercury glass heart just the other day!
I like heffalump's ideas!
Now, the last time I put up a tree? Eh, the ornaments were removed by the 7th. The lights came off just after Valentine's day. (Yes, I'd hung hearts on the tree to make myself feel a little less silly.) The tree itself finally came down by St. Patrick's day simply because I didn't feel like making four leaf clover cutouts. . . rules and practice are two very different things.
I got upset at my husband for chucking our cards two days after Christmas (we were still getting cards, for Heaven's sake!) He started taking down the ornaments and broke them all for the cause of having everything down by New Year's. I could have killed him. Keep them up as long as you like.
I find it surprising how many trees are just now being left out on the curb for collection. Guess you aren't alone!
MAY POLE....Yes! MAY POLE. All you have to do is lovingly chop off the superflouous branches of your majestic tree leaving the trunk behind and attach your cute ribbons to the top. Who will have the heart to tell you that your pine scented May Pole is a fire hazard?
Just a thought.
You have always marched to the beat of a slightly different drum anyway!
There's nothing wrong with being lazy, though judging from all of your Flaky Friend creations, I don't see how you could have possibly had any time to do anything else.