Elizabeth86 Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Have you? We are taking our tree down today. I'm ready to do it dec 26th, but dh and the kids wanted to keep it up. Our house is so tiny, so I'm over the tree taking up room the minute Christmas is over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamanthaCarter Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Not til Epiphany. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlktwins Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Everything but the trees. I will do those next weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 We didn't put ours up until the week before Christmas; I'll probably leave it up for another week. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xixstar Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Did it yesterday -- I often try to do it the day after Christmas but get too much push back from the family. I absolutely hate to start the new year with it all still up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabeth86 Posted January 1, 2018 Author Share Posted January 1, 2018 We didn't put ours up until the week before Christmas; I'll probably leave it up for another week. I see that. We have had ours up since right after Thanksgiving. ugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 We leave ours until epiphany. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 (edited) Not til Epiphany. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Yes, this. It's still Christmastide. 12 days! Our tree was not set up until the Saturday before Xmas. Edited January 1, 2018 by Alessandra 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Yes, yesterday, but the outside lights are going to have to wait because it is frigid here. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 We usually wait until Epiphany too (leftover from dh's family traditions), but now that my kids are older, I just find a time when at least some people are free so they can help me! This year it will probably be in a few days. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabeth86 Posted January 1, 2018 Author Share Posted January 1, 2018 Is it bad I have no idea what Epiphany is? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 It's all coming down today. Our house feels smaller and messier, the longer it stays up. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 We set ours up the Sunday after Thanksgiving (though we were a week delayed this year), and I take it down the day my dh goes back to work (typically Jan 2). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scholastica Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Is it bad I have no idea what Epiphany is? Epiphany is the celebration of the arrival of the Magi. It is 12 days after Christmas, or January 6. This is the basis for the song, The Twelve Days Of Christmas. Christmas was celebrated as a 12 day feast. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbecueMom Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 I took our stuff down yesterday. We have to rearrange the furniture to fit the tree in the living room, and I get tired of maneuvering around it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Not until the end of Christmas (January 6). We put it up when the homeless charity we buy from made them available, on December 16. It has water and is looking fine. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arctic Bunny Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 At midnight the boys declared we should take the tree down because it’s not 2017 anymore. It’s still up this morning, but it makes me think I’m the only one that likes keeping it up a little longer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 As a kid we always kept the tree up until Epiphany but as an adult I usually take it down by New Year's. I ordered divided ornament storage containers from The Container Store to better organize my beloved ornament collection and UPS hasn't delivered them yet. What's killing me is that they have been IN MY TOWN at the UPS site since Friday. So I have to wait until tomorrow for delivery. UGH. The kids and dh are here and could help me take down the tree this weekend. But no.... Maybe I'll wait for Epiphany this year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heatherwith4 Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 We put ours up right after Thanksgiving, so we took it down yesterday. I was sad about that, but it’s nice to have the extra room. I like the idea of keeping it up until Epiphany, but it never works out around here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 We always keep it up at least until Epiphany, and after that there is no hurry. We used to keep a tree up all year long. :P This year we didn't really decorate due to our travel plans. We just had one mini tree on a table with a Christmassy throw blanket for a skirt. It will stay up as long as its owner enjoys looking at it. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 All decorations come down on the 26th. I usually do it by myself but if the kids are available when I'm doing it, they'll help. It's almost my birthday and I hate Christmas decorations out on my special day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 We wait until Epiphany. In the Episcopal church, the Christmas season is 12 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theelfqueen Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 It comes down on the 6th. We celebrate the last day of Christmas - bake cookies, drink cocoa, play a game, and take it down. I like to treat Advent and Christmas seasons separately. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 (edited) Is it bad I have no idea what Epiphany is? Epiphany is the celebration of the arrival of the Magi. It is 12 days after Christmas, or January 6. This is the basis for the song, The Twelve Days Of Christmas. Christmas was celebrated as a 12 day feast. It comes down on the 6th. We celebrate the last day of Christmas - bake cookies, drink cocoa, play a game, and take it down. I like to treat Advent and Christmas seasons separately. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk Elizabeth There are distinct liturgical seasons at this time of year. Advent, which begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, is actually a penitential time. Advent signifies 'coming' -- waiting not only for The Nativity, but also preparing for Second Coming. Hence the penitential aspect. Orthodox Christians have slightly different dates and also a fasting period. Christmas is twelve days. A lot of feasts were traditionally eight days or twelve days, although that is not always recognized nowadays. Think of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. I think Twelfth Night was the time for gifts in Tudor England. Epiphany, the day after Twelfth Night, is actually not just a day, but a several weeks long liturgical season. In Spanish speaking traditions, Epiphany is a big deal. NYC has a parade with camels, many churches collect and distribute presents. The feast is a bit different in western and eastern churches -- one celebrating the arrival of the Magi, the other the Baptism of Christ. Perhaps you've seen pictures of Russian Orthodox jumping into icy rivers? In Ethiopia, Epiphany is a huge three-day festival. On a simple level, liturgical churches have distinctly different hymns for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany -- a lovely way to mark the seasons, imo. HTH ETA Of course a Christmas tree is not a religious tradition exactly, so it is not wrong to take it down whenever, imo. If I had put up our tree at Thanksgiving, I'd want it down too, lol. Edited January 1, 2018 by Alessandra 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabeth86 Posted January 1, 2018 Author Share Posted January 1, 2018 Epiphany is the celebration of the arrival of the Magi. It is 12 days after Christmas, or January 6. This is the basis for the song, The Twelve Days Of Christmas. Christmas was celebrated as a 12 day feast. I learn something new all thw time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historically accurate Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 We traveled for Christmas this year, so we never decorated here. Nice to not have to put anything away! I usually put up the tree the Sat after Thanksgiving and take it down the 26th-27th. My BIL, a pastor, was telling us about the history of Christmas yesterday as he understands it. The tree would be put up on Dec 24th. In fact, his church would have the kids come to the church for a pre-Christmas Eve service, and the parents would run home and put up the tree and put out the presents. The tree used to stay up until Feb 1st in the 1800s - switching to Jan 6th with the idea of the 12 Days of Christmas. Then, the businesses started promoting Christmas earlier in order to get more people excited about Christmas and the tree started going up earlier. Finally, there was a switch toward Christmas as focused on the children and not solely as an adult celebration, so we have St. Nicolas/Santa Claus, etc. I don't know if that is all true or not (excepting his own church's history), just sharing what he shared yesterday. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 DH wants to take ours down today because he wants to get working on redoing that room. I can get behind that. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 My tree will come down today. I love having the tree up, but I need to get the boxes stored away and the crawl space put together again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 (edited) I took ours down last Thursday when we came home from the in-laws house. Having the tree up causes serious disruption to the house (we have to take down the table that provides the only flat surface in our kitchen/dining area) so we don't have it up very long. If we had the space, I would leave it up from Thanksgiving to Epiphany. Edited January 1, 2018 by Where's Toto? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Ugh, when to take the tree down is complicated this year. I like to do it after Epiphany. But my daughter's birthday is Jan 7, so it ends up staying up till the 8th because she doesn't want to take the tree down on her birthday. So that's fine most years. But this year, we are traveling on the 8th through the 11th, and I don't want to come home and have to deal with the tree. It's fake, so no worries about dryness. But, I just don't want to wait. So this year I'm going to disappoint her and take it down between the 2nd and 5th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 I usually take down the tree and as many of the decorations as I have energy for on 1/1. By that time, I'm ready to be done with Christmas and move into the new year. While I'm definitely ready for that this year, I am struggling to gather the energy to actually do the work. I feel like the whole Christmas season was both a rush and a slog this year, and I'm just plain exhausted by the whole thing. Today is my last day off for this long weekend, and because of the odd time off scheduling requirements of my job, the upcoming week has me working six days in a row. So if the decor doesn't come down today, I don't know when I'll get to it, but I'm tired, darn it, and I have other projects I would much prefer to do on this last free day. Blargh. Adulting is hard sometimes, even when you have as much experience with it as I do by this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS Mom in NC Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 I took mine down on the 26th. I'm a when it's over, it's over person. I only do Christmasy things in the month of December. To me it's more meaningful if it doesn't go on and on. If I lived in a culture that only did Christmasy things after Thanksgiving instead of starting in October in some businesses, I might feel differently about it...maybe.I don't put up a lot of decorations because I don't enjoy the process of getting them out and putting them away . It's a tree (that I traveled 3 hours to get to,) stockings, a few things the kids made, a wreath on the front door, an advent calendar, a table runner, some red and white cut flowers, and some luminarias. If the kids want lights on the house they're welcome to put them up and take them down. They're coming down in the next day or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Theoretically I believe in leaving it up until Epiphany. However, we get the tree the day before Thanksgiving, so yeah..... Hubby (who is not religious) wants to take it down today, and he's the one who does it, so I defer to him. Although he's feeling lazy today so maybe it will wait until next weekend :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 I took everything down yesterday. I don't usually do it that early, but I will be busy coming up and figured since I had the time to do it now..I should do it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 We wait till Epiphany at least. Some years it's a couple days longer if people are busy with school/work but I think this year we'll be taking it down on the Sunday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMommy Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Our tree always stays up through Epiphany, and usually until the weekend after, because it's so hard to find time during the week to put everything away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zinnia Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 I leave mine up through Epiphany. My mom aims to take hers down by Valentine's, because she likes to decorate for that. Some years, she has a Valentine's tree. ;) Both of us put it up within a week of Thanksgiving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyroo Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Everything came down and the boxes went back up into the attic a couple days ago; when DH goes back to work tomorrow the house simply must be ship shape and back to normal. The only hold over is the outside lights. Those will come down the first weekend that the temp climbs above 20ish *F. Wendy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaybee Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 I usually get ours put away at some point within the week after Christmas. This year I did it on the 28th. I don't have a huge amount of decor, so it doesn't take a long time to decorate or to put it away. The extra complications Christmas decor makes to housecleaning causes me tire of it quickly. I love the Christmas season in general, but I don't like for it to last for weeks on end, and I don't like dusting in consideration of the small decorative pieces. I'm seriously thinking of eliminating some of my small pieces and adding a few larger one-piece items for the future. (I have quite a few small nativity sets. I like them theoretically, but when they begin to feel like clutter, that seems to defeat the purpose, you know?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonhawk Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 We put up on the 24th, take down on the 6th. It's a fake tree though, so I don't have to worry about the tree's personal timeline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 (edited) Ours go up the weekend after Thanksgiving and come down the first (while watching football games on t.v.). I like the idea of keeping it up until Jan. 6 but it fits better with work/school schedules to come down earlier. Outdoor lights came down yesterday. Edited January 1, 2018 by Ali in OR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baseball mom Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 All other decorations were taken down Friday. Tree yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lecka Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 We took it all down yesterday. My husband didn't want it hanging over his head anymore. He hates feeling like he has left things for the last day before he goes back to work, so two days before he goes back to work he wants to get everything done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
City Mouse Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 I will start on it today. My DH always wants to wait until the Epiphany, but I want it all put away before I go back to work. I leave him the option of taking care of it himself, but for some reason he always seems to let me put it all away on my time line. 😀 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbridgeacademy Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 We usually try to get the tree up Dec. 1st and down January 1st. This year I think it went up on the 15th and Dh and I took it down yesterday.... I was just not in the festive spirit this year. We still have lights on the house but since we have a negative wind chill they'll be staying up until the temps get out of the single digits (even if that's February). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 DH’s birthday is the 29th and mine is the 30th. I usually clear out Christmas by the 28th because I don’t want Christmas on the birthdays. Don’t know why I feel that way, I just do. But this year, I didn’t have the motivation to clear out Christmas. The house is tiny and it makes a horrible mess when I pull the boxes out of the attic and start shuffling everything around, so I put off the mess longer than usual. I finally managed to get the tree down on the 29th, and got all the boxes out of the attic and then ran out of time to put the Christmas stuff away and the regular stuff back out. I have no idea when I’ll have time to get all this Christmas stuff put away! Things got crazy this weekend and I need to spend today preparing for school to start up tomorrow. Maybe next Saturday? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 We leave our decorations up until at least Epiphany. I grew up with this tradition. We usually keep using our Christmas dishes until Candlemas on February 2. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 (edited) The real tree is definitely coming down today. It takes an hour or more to box all the ornaments and put them away. The majority are porcelain and crystal so they each have their own specific boxes. The longest part is matching the boxes and ornaments. The artificial tree and book case decorations are easier to put away but there are more of them so they take just as long. Since they can linger in the back room for a bit, it will happen this week, I am just not sure if it will be today or not. The book cases are empty until I decide to decorate them again, so I hate to put that room's decor away too soon. It will take a solid 3 to 4 hours to put it all away and put it back in the attic. ETA: Real tree and everything except the backroom/artificial tree is done and in the attic. Half way there. LOL Edited January 1, 2018 by Tap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnE-girl Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 We usually keep it up until Epiphany. My birthday is the 5th, and I always wanted the tree up for my birthday as a kid too. We don’t put up our tree until the second week of December, so it’s still in pretty good shape. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 We leave our decorations up until at least Epiphany. I grew up with this tradition. We usually keep using our Christmas dishes until Candlemas on February 2. That's a good idea about the dishes. I usually keep outdoor wreaths up till Candlemas, but that could just be laziness, lol. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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