Is Christmas over for you on December 26?

[Rosie_0801]

Dd will be going to spend a few days at her dad's girlfriend's place, so yes.

[thessa516]

I put the old year away and make room for the new.

 

Yes! On the day after Christmas I take down my tree. I love the week between Christmas and New Years. Everything gets put away, the house gets cleaned up, my mind feels refreshed and relaxed! It's a lovely, quiet time of reflection for me. The cookies and hot chocolate and SUGAR are behind me, and I crave the simplicity of a cup of hot green tea. I like starting the New Year with a clean slate.

[DragonFaerie]

Yes! On the day after Christmas I take down my tree. I love the week between Christmas and New Years. Everything gets put away, the house gets cleaned up, my mind feels refreshed and relaxed! It's a lovely, quiet time of reflection for me. The cookies and hot chocolate and SUGAR are behind me, and I crave the simplicity of a cup of hot green tea. I like starting the New Year with a clean slate.

 

I like this, except that sugar is never "behind me."  I ALWAYS want sugar. :D

[TheApprentice]

It's more of a "Christmas Time" for us. I have family coming in on Christmas day, the day after and that Saturday. We will have a huge Holiday dinner Sunday the 29th. I will have family staying with us until Dec. 2. So it would be hard for us to get back to normal on the 26th.

 

This is how it usually works around here. :001_smile:

[milovany]

We put our tree up on (or just after) Dec. 20th, which is the day the Forefeast of the Nativity begins and the first time the "Tree of Life" is mentioned in the liturgical songs, and keep it up into the new year.  We don't have a set take-down date because the tree is not Christmas, but sometime between Jan 3 or so and 6 or so. The Nativity season goes until Jan. 6th, which is Theophany (the baptism of Christ), one of the 12 great feasts. That's kind of our "moving on" day in the Orthodox church  -- after this day we can then schedule our house blessing, which should be done before Lent begins. 

[HRAAB]

No. Christmas Day is the first day of the Christmas season and lasts until Epiphany. I follow the same traditions my family did. We love celebrating.

[Heather in Neverland]

Dh's birthday is Dec 29th. Mine is Dec 30th. I like to keep the celebrations separate. I don't like Christmas stuff out on my birthday and I don't like to get birthday presents wrapped in Christmas paper.

 

If our birthdays were at another time of year, I think I would feel differently. But we clear out the Christmas stuff on the 27th so our birthdays feel like birthdays and not just part of Christmas. You might not understand this unless you were a kid who was given one present and told, "This is for Christmas AND your birthday." Cheapskates! We make a point of getting each other just as nice of presents for each celebration.

This. My dd's birthday is the 26th and we are determined NOT to do that to her. So we now take the tree down the evening of the 25th or the morning of the 26th and commence with the birthday celebration!!

 

We also get three weeks off at Christmas (the whole family) and so we still spend lots of time doing fun things... We just do it with the tree put away.

[Mom2OandE]

Christmas isn't over for me until after New Years. This has gotten even truer since we began homeschooling.

[Jean in Newcastle]

We have the house decorated from the day after Thanksgiving to New Year's day but we don't have a live tree to worry about.

 

Dd's birthday is within that Christmas window and I told her I'd be willing to not decorate for Christmas until after her birthday but she loves the decorations and is the one wanting to decorate!  We don't wrap her birthday presents in Christmas paper, though.  

[73349]

We had to have Christmas with the ILs the first week of December, so by now it's getting old for me. That's a shame, because I like to let Thanksgiving have its space and not dash headlong into Christmas right after.

 

Also, DS's birthday is the first week of January. I absolutely want it all put away by then, before there's more baking and wrapping paper and guests. So the tree will be put away by New Year's, and perhaps tomorrow. Definitely the stockings will be put away tonight or tomorrow. My family has never celebrated Epiphany or anything, so yes, we really just do Christmas Eve and Christmas.

 

Many thanks to those who separate Christmas from family birthdays, from someone who just had a birthday ;)

[LucyStoner]

We leave the tree up until the 6th.

 

My younger son's birthday is right after a Christmas. I bake a birthday cake, wrap presents in birthday paper, buy some birthday ballons and hang a birthday banner inside and on the door. But the tree stays up. Sometimes people have thought the birthday banner was for Jesus, lol.

[Mandylubug]

I was raised Southern Baptist and had no clue what Epiphany is till this year. It's all very interesting to me.

 

We will be taking down the tree soon, though. Maybe even tomorrow but the tree doesn't represent Christmas to me. I have tons of breakables out and ready to not be uptight with the kids running around the house with them out. I typically use the week between Christmas and New Years to reboot the housework and get mentally prepared to hop back into our studies.

[FriedClams]

I'm a yes and no, also.

 

25th - Tree down, all decorations cleaned up, decluttered, house straightened.

 

26th-6th - Celebrating the epiphany this year. I sort of got distracted with all the stuff I had to do for Christmas that the advent calendar got dropped. The kids missed it. So, in lieu I'm setting up an epiphany calendar. Something fun every day until the 6th. I'm looking forward to it!!

[Alessandra]

We put up wreaths on the first Sunday of Advent. The tree goes up right before Christmas -- Monday this year - and gets decorated on Christmas Eve. It stays up til Epiphany. I am glad to see so many here who do the same thing.

We have a crèche with a cradle that is empty until Christmas Eve. The magi move around the house until they get to it on Epiphany.

[Serenade]

I love the week between Christmas and New Year's Day.  To me this is Christmastime - the pace is slower, kids and I (and this year, my husband) are on vacation, etc.  I still like to plan fun things to go.  Still plan to bake some special things to eat and give during the week.  Still watch a lot of Christmas movies.

 

 

 

 

This.  Sometimes I think I like the day after Christmas better than the holiday itself.  No stress, no pressure, no agenda.

 

I'm sad that this year my husband has to work today, but the boys and I plan on having a relaxing day.

[Lady Florida.]

I love this week too.I get to enjoy the decorations without thinking about all the stuff that needs to be done. Our tree and outdoor decorations stay up until Jan. 2 or the first weekend after New Year's Day. I consider New Year's Eve as part of the season.

 

Before we moved to Florida, when everyone we knew was Catholic, we left our tree up until the Epiphany. When we came here, we saw trees out on the curb on Dec. 26th for the first time in our lives. My family's compromise was to leave it up until New Year's Day. Over the years, more people around here have been doing that. Dh's family wasnusually done on Christmas. Leaving the tree up was one tradition I refused to give up, and he's fine with that.

[Ewe Mama]

We continue celebrating for the Twelve Days. I buy a family-oriented gift for each of the Twelve Days for us to open and share in the afternoon and evening. They are simple gifts, like games, DVDs, books, puzzles. We play Christmas music and spend some family time together.

[Elm in NJ]

Our tree is up until at least the 6th of Jan, sometimes even later. That is what we have always done. At home, the whole season is full of parties and outings. Today is Boxing Day and there is usually a lot of outings to different beaches.

[Element]

No way! We celebrate from Solstice until New Year's. :)