<p>I know it’s only 2 days after Christmas, but now all I see when I look at this 7 foot thing in my living room is WORK! Of course it’s been up since Thanksgiving so that may have something to do with my eagerness. Everyone loves it but we all know who will be the one painstakingly removing each ornament and collectible and returning them to their proper box. -sigh–</p>
<p>Since D just got home from abroad a few days before Christmas, we didn’t put ours up until the 23rd of Dec. She had asked to be there to decorate it. D is still turning on the lights every time she comes into the room – I figure that is a sign that we should leave it up for a while longer. :)</p>
<p>I always take the trees (2) down on New Years Day. I pack away ornaments and watch the Rose Bowl Parade. I like things neat and organized so I am eager to get all of the Christmas stuff put away.</p>
<p>My husband would love for it to have come down yesterday, but I make him wait until New Years Day. He watches football and I take the tree down. But I wait to take the lights off the house until January 6th (the 12th day of Christmas).</p>
<p>We always throw a big NYEve party so its my excuse to wait until New years day. </p>
<p>How about a ‘tree untrimming party?’ 
Invite some girlfriends over, make some cake and serve coffee. It might be less miserable that way to combine it with good conversation. </p>
<p>Or can do you do it a bit at at time? You know, today you do the red bulbs only, tomorrow the garland only. Etc. The downside here is it will look pretty ugly once you start taking it down.</p>
<p>We have always kept a traditional Christmas. Tree goes up Christmas Eve or maybe a day sooner. This year 2 days earlier. Stays up until after Epiphany, the 12 days of Christmas :)</p>
<p>I’m a big believer in keeping it up until Epiphany too. I love looking at the tree so the longer the better IMO! Some years we’ve had a Three Kings party. (All sort of amusing since we aren’t even Christian.)</p>
<p>starbright, love the idea of a tree un-trimming party. Maybe this weekend when we are all shoveled out from this blizzard! Either that or will do in stages. Miss the days when my kids were totally involved with the trimming and untrimming. With their busy school and work schedules, I’m left with tree details. A bit lonely but well worth it for the ooohs and ahhhs when they come home to behold ;)</p>
<p>I always feel sad when I see trees at the curb even before New Year’s. We also put our tree up Christmas Eve. We used to just leave it up till Epiphany but now we have a “Winter Warmup” party in mid-January so I leave it up for that. January is depressing enough as it is and it takes so long to decorate it.</p>
<p>We also leave the tree up until the day after the Epiphany. It has been a tradition that I grew up with…It would feel strange doing it earlier.</p>
<p>I always take mine down New Years D. I usually go back to work the day after, so if it doesn’t come down then, it could take a week or two. And then the recycle people won’t take it.</p>
<p>I always get mine on the late side, so I am not sick of it by the day after Christmas. And I am enjoying lighting it up at night and reading quietly nearby (no one typically hangs out in the living room).</p>
<p>My birthday is January 1 so my mom always likes to have the Christmas decorations down and put away (including the tree) by the time it’s my birthday. The decorations and tree don’t bother me at all because i’m used to my bday being so close to Christmas but my mom hates when they are still up for Jan 1.</p>
<p>The vote around here was for “a tiny tree” this year. So I bought a two foot Bosnian pine (a beautiful tree that will grow to 6 feet tall) at the local nursery and tied ribbons to its branches. Just untied and put it outside because the gardener is here today and will plant it. (He’s doing the winter cleanup.)</p>
<p>I try to take it down New Years Day or the weekend after. This year it may stay up until all of the needles fall off. I promised myself I would get all of the Christmas boxes out of the attic, organize everything and throw out the junk. Too many years of just sticking things in random boxes rather than doing it the right way. Getting some of the boxes out, or using some things and putting half empty boxes back. Time to get organized.</p>
<p>Hmm, it would be fun to have a progressive dinner to take down trees at different people’s houses.</p>
<p>Our tree came down this morning and is out on the curb for tomorrow’s trash pick-up.
We generally put it up the first weekend in Dec. and take it down right after Christmas.
This year we didn’t get the tree up until the 18th so it was only up for nine days (and we were traveling for two of them). </p>
<p>S2’s birthday is Dec. 30. Ever since he was born, we’ve made sure to get the tree down before his b-day. I never wanted him to feel that his b-day was just an extension of Christmas. Also when he was a little kid and having b-day parties, there was no way I wanted a gang of wild 8 yr. old boys playing party games around my Christmas tree! </p>
<p>Thankfully, DH is the head tree dis-assembler. He pulls everything off the tree and I put it in boxes which he hauls up to the attic. He also cleans up all the needles off the floor after he drags the tree to the curb. He likes to get it over with so he can enjoy the rest of his vacation week without that task looming over his head. </p>
<p>Our S’s are 21 (on the 30th) and almost 24 (Feb). To be honest, I don’t know if they would even care if we didn’t do the tree anymore. I still like it though.</p>
<p>tired already, I did a little “editing” of my decorations this year. My sister actually took several boxes of things to her church’s food pantry in November. As an elementary (and former piano) teacher for over thirty years she had xmas tchotchkes (is that an oxymoron?) out the wazoo, many of which had never seen the light of day.</p>
<p>I really dislike taking the tree down. There is no reason to take it down before Jan 6th and the real end of the Christmas season is Feb 2nd, Candlemas.</p>
<p>Growing up, my sister and I used to beg our folks to keep the tree up as long as possible…and they were real trees. We usually could keep the tree until Valentine’s Day but a few years we kept it even longer!</p>
<p>We’re very odd people and leave most of the decorations up until after Valentine’s day! But the tree grows in the great room until spring thaw, with fairy lights twinkling, and I just change out any really Christmas-like ornamentation. The garlands are simple and evergreen (fake, but good ones) and I like to have that extra bit of green indoors when it’s so gray and white outside. Plus, I’m lazy in the winter…there, I said it.</p>