<p>We’re with fallgirl and moonchild, taking them down January 1. There’s something nice about starting the new year with a clean slate, which is how our home looks after the decorations are down. Some might view it as “bare” after the warmth of the decorations, but I prefer the adjectives “fresh” and “uncluttered”. </p>
<p>I’ve honestly never heard of waiting for Epiphany to take down the tree. I wonder if it’s connected with particular religious denominations, like Catholicism? I was raised Lutheran but it was always January 1 for us. Maybe it’s more a regional thing? “Waiting for the kings” is pretty cool, and ties the tree in to the true meaning of Christmas.</p>
<p>I will probably get around to it one day this week , but that depends on my schedule. I just got around to going thru my kitchen and finding homes for the new gadgets and things I got for Christmas. I tend to put that off when I could otherwise spend time with my girls who are visiting for such a short time…Christmas day was followed by a party for 40 people the next day , while recovering from days on end of cooking …I need a vacation to recover</p>
<p>In general, it is more likely that Catholics (and more conservative liturgical denominations) would be waiting for Epiphany to put away Christmas decorations. Most Protestant denominations do not focus on the traditional Christmas season described here, and have forgotten this history.</p>
<p>atomom- I completely disagree with your post. H & I were raised Catholic, but now attend a mainline Protestant church and believe Epiphany is given equal, if not, bigger weight than our childhood Catholic churches did.</p>
<p>My house gets cleaned on Wednesdays so I like to get them down before the Wednesday after Christmas. Didn’t happen this year because Wednesday was supposed to be our travel day and we were delayed an extra day because of weather, plus that would have been awfully soon. I’m working on it today and tomorrow so I’ll be ready for this Wednesday. Hate to see them go but they’ve been up since the day after Thanksgiving. We’re Presbyterian, I don’t think we have any decorating traditions except for the advent wreath and those Chrismon ornaments made out of pearls.</p>
<p>we wait until after Epiphany. We move the 3 Kings closer to the nativity scene at that point. Before that, they are at a little distance. this was a tradition that I had as a child, so we kept it.</p>
<p>Either New Year’s Day or the weekend after. I’m ready for them to be down. I love them when they go up (Thanksgiving weekend) but by this point, they feel like “clutter” to me. I considered doing it today but I really needed some down time so I had a lazy day today.</p>
<p>For the past 22 years,we’ve taken our decorations down on the 26th or 27th.<br>
Our S2’s birthday is today…Dec. 30. He’s 23 today. We always took the decorations down right after Christmas because I wanted his birthday to be his day…without remnants of Christmas hanging around. I wanted each celebration to be separate for him. Plus if the b-day party was at our home, I didn’t want a bunch of wild boys running thru our house crashing into Christmas tree et al.</p>
<p>This year Dh and I left home on the 27th to spend the rest of the week at our second home. So the tree won’t come down until New Years day.</p>
<p>Mom2collegekids,
We also move the kings closer each day from Christmas until the 6th when they are right at the manger.
(Also, Baby Jesus does not appear until Christmas Day)</p>
<p>“we wait until after Epiphany. We move the 3 Kings closer to the nativity scene at that point. Before that, they are at a little distance. this was a tradition that I had as a child, so we kept it”
very cool tradition, mom2college kids!</p>
<p>Thanks to those of you who posted about Epiphany. I feel like I missed out! This despite being raised Lutheran and now attending another mainline Protestant church. I confess to having to look up the meaning of the celebration. We celebrate the 4 Sundays of advent (we decorate on the first Sunday) but it kind of peters out after New Years Day. I’m going to check to see if the decorations are up in my church next Sunday.</p>
<p>I used to work with a Cuban woman whose tradition was to buy a special gift for her family members which they exchanged on the Epiphany - which she always called “Little Christmas.”</p>
<p>We did observe Epiphany growing up (mainline Protestant) and I guess that’s why I never tried taking down my things right away. </p>
<p>While I love seeing the lights etc at some point the rest of it does look like clutter and I can’t wait to get it away! At this point, that will probably be next weekend. </p>
<p>We may have people over for NYE and I’d like them to see the decorations since it was so much work to put up.</p>
<p>I feel like I need to sing The Twelve Days of Christmas. I agree with the Epiphany group here. The Christmas atmosphere lingers until Three Kings day or the Sunday on or after Epiphany. We remove decorations the weekend after the Epiphany weekend.</p>
<p>On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me </p>
<p>Orthodox Christmas is Jan 7th so we leave everything up until mid January. My H is just like musicmom’s H. Never in any hurry to take the decorations down.</p>
<p>My family is Cuban and i was also stationed in Germany for a few years when my D was born. We’ve kept the tradition of Los Reyes Mago (the Three Wise Men) so I try to keep most of the decorations out through Epiphany also. The kids are both HS age now so we don’t go through the whole ritual of putting out their shoes with hay (usually grass) for the camels and a bowl of water, but I still give my kids a small gift the morning of Epiphany. Its always very inexpensive and usually is tied to another gift they received (a needed accessory, case, one year is was clothes for an american girl doll my BFF gave D, etc). It’s a nice way to end the season, keep some of my paternal cultural traditions, and spread the gifts out a bit also.</p>
<p>Based on some of the postings above, I think the dismantling of the tree seems to be tied to immigrant traditions and whether they were continued in the US. In my childhood home, decorations were brought out early in December, but no tree in the house until December 24. On that evening, we watched for the first star to appear, then Jeiko brought presents when we left the house on a walk with our father while our mother caught up with the ironing. The tree stayed up until the Feast of Three Kings, when any sweets and chocolates hung on the tree could be eaten while we stowed away the Shiny Brite ornaments and lead tinsel. </p>
<p>Santa Claus? Purely a delivery person assisting on Christmas Eve; but when I was young, Svätý Mikulá would put candy in our stockings on December 6. Over time, this tradition disappeared, and the tree was put in place a few days earlier, but the dismantling date of January 6 stayed firm.</p>
<p>The 12 days of Christmas ends at the Epiphany(little Christmas) Jan 6. So our lights and tree stay up and we celebrate with family at different times when we see them throughout the holiday. Doesn’t fel right if we take anything down sooner.</p>
The tree stayed up until the Feast of Three Kings, when any sweets and chocolates hung on the tree could be eaten while we stowed away the Shiny Brite ornaments and lead tinsel. </p>