I’m hoping someone else takes the decorations down…since I put them all up. Not holding my breath.
We will take everything down on the 1st as we head out on vacation on the 3rd. Yay!
Count me as someone who considers Christmas to be over on the 26th. Even as a child I thought decorations looked sad after Christmas Day. The decorations help facilitate a feeling of coziness as the days get shorter, but Winter Solstice is the 21st, so time to move on. ?
Someone else put the decorations away - hahahahahahaha! 
Deconstructing is by Abasket too - full circle!
D2 will help me take down the tree ornaments and lights and H will haul it to the recycle tree place in town.
I took down the stockings and holders today from the fireplace - will leave some decor on the fireplace for a good bit of January - it’s not really Christmas - just red accents, lights and a “peace and joy” gold banner.
I took down the stockings and holders, but all other decorations will stay up until 1/6. My city recycling center accepts trees through mid-January which is convenient.
Christmas went off without a hitch. It was so easy with just our cozy family of five. No expectations from house guests. No fuming mother when dinner was served later than expected. So lovely.
I will admit I am a “put them away by myself” insister–I like my storage system and it’s too idiosyncratic to leave to someone else. Historically, I would take the tree down the first day the kids went back to school after NY’s, now it’s just some day soon after NY.
We glided through Christmas and Eve well. I never baked cookies and only wrote 10 cards, but the presents were wrapped and our small family enjoyed out time.
The big thing that loomed was this extended family reunion at/near our shore home–loads of family staying here or nearby, with our place as central. Big draw was our GD, whom much of the family hadn’t met yet.
I had done no food prep done at all, and put out a group text saying basically, pizza or whatever, and food rolled in. It was a Christmas miracle. We’ve all had a fabulous time the last few days, and it’s been fun to reacquaint and for everyone to meet the newest family member.
Exhausting, but great!
I’m another person who leaves decorations up until 1/6. To me, the best part of Christmas is the time between Christmas and New Years. My kids aren’t out of the house yet, so that time has always been good, solid family time when everyone, including Dh, is home from school/off work, no one has scheduled activities, our days are fairly relaxed, etc. Lots of fires in the fireplace, the tree lit, everyone hanging out in the family room watching movies or college football. No other time of year, except vacation, do we really spend much time all together. With four kids, it’s hard, so I enjoy it while it lasts.
My tree usually comes down the first weekend after New Years because the needles start falling and making a mess. But my outdoor lights/decor and the rest of my indoor decor stay up until 1/6 when I slowly start dismantling.
I remember as a kid growing up in So Cal how my mom thought it was odd that Christmas decorations went up the day after Thanksgiving and came down the day after Christmas. My mom is originally from western PA and she was used to decorations going up mid December and coming down 1/06.
We keep our Christmas decor up until kiddo leaves (1/2 this year). He would be sad if it came down while he was here, and we all like to enjoy the tree NYE. Like others, I am so done with it all and looking forward to the day when we don’t bother, but that day is also the day our son does not come home for Christmas, so I’m also hoping that never happens. Guess I can’t have it both ways.
I usually take down the tree and decorations on Jan 1st (while watching the Rose Bowl). This year I am running a 5K with some friends in the morning, then watching D’s school play in their bowl game, then going to a friends party. Probably take it down on the weekend of the 4th or 5th. It was minimal this year, shouldn’t be a big job.
Tree is down and gone. One yard tree --small–has lights. I am purging. I tossed, recycled, Goodwill half of our Holiday decorations. Still cleaning out the wrapping paper and such bins. Looking at different kitchen drawers next and this is how I am greeting 2020. organized space makes me happy. I feel a need to see the New Year in this way.
Growing up in Germany in a catholic family, we put up and decorated our real Christmas tree on Christmas Eve, along with eating cookies and listening to Christmas songs on the radio.
Then it stayed up until 1/6 (Three King’s Day).
The tree was in a stand with water that we made sure was always filled and easily survived the two weeks.
In the US people tend to put up their tree after Thanksgiving, but I never did.
We usually put it up a few days before Christmas, especially with a real tree, and also left it up until Epiphany.
We have one kid with early Jan birthday and always wanted Christmas packed away before the birthday.
^^ Interesting, one of ours has a birthday close on heels of Christmas and wants things left up. He enjoys the festive touches.
People left yesterday and today. This evening it’s back to husband and me and the dogs. Am mulling ideas to manage next year; I want to write them down before I forget and then get wound up over the same things all over again.
I’d like to take the tree down NY Day - but that is D2’s last full day at home and I think it will make it too sad for her - and me! - to take it down -meaning the end of break! If it doesn’t go down then I’ll do it on Friday and I’ll be READY for a tree free weekend!
Everything is put away here. I love the idea of leaving it up until Epiphany but looking at it and knowing DS’s are leaving soon (one today) makes me sad. I’d rather just pack it up, so that’s what I did yesterday. Now if I could just pack up this head cold…
@smakl70 if you packed up your head cold you’d just have to bring it out again next year!
Nice thing about leaving things out until Epiphany is that I finally had a chance to send my kids a pun photograph about the Three Kings. It’s lovely hearing my children’s eyes roll from across the internet.
Those of you who leave decorations up until the 6th, do you really take it down on the 6th? This year the 6th is a Monday, so you come home from work and spend the rest of the evening putting decorations away? I’m thinking you probably wait until the following weekend.
When I worked, I was always exhausted in the evening, and there were other distractions on the weekend, so all decorations were put away no later than New Year’s Day. It would have been too tempting to procrastinate if I waited any longer.
No outside job here, so I’ve got way more flexibility. I will say that I leave my decorations up for all of 1/6 and take them down the following day. Not sure if that’s a departure from the tradition; it just seemed less complete somehow? I mean, it took the poor dudes a long time to travel, they finally get there, and I’m disassembling it instead of giving them a chance to relax? 
We also take down on the 7th. My D will still be here so we’ll do it together, otherwise I tend to take down what I can and then with H gets home we take down the tree together.