Why I Take Down My Tree The Day After Christmas
I love Christmas. It’s happy and beautiful and festive. But what I really love is getting my house back after the holidays are over. I love the clean, open feeling when I take down all the decorations. It’s like a new beginning for a new year.
The first year my husband and I were together, I went to take the tree down on the 26th and he freaked out. He’s catholic, you see, and believes in keeping the decorations up until after the new year. (It’s called Epiphany.)
I had no idea. I thought this was just procrastination. He insisted we keep them up and I wasn’t about to die on that hill so I made a compromise.
“Sounds good,” I said to him, “But getting these decorations down after New Years is your responsibility. I hit the ground running with my blog and spend all my free time focused on that. It’s how I get a jump start on the year.”
He agreed. And that year we celebrated Christmas until just after St. Patrick’s Day.
So, the next year, when I went to pull down the tree on the 26th, he didn’t say anything. And now my house is nice and clean, my big open areas feel open again, and I’m ready to start the new year.
Who’s with me?
Check out these awesome ornament storage ideas.
Check out these awesome ornament storage ideas.
We always “de Christmas” the house on New Years Day. Everything comes down, house is cleaned up and ready for a fresh new year. (everything that is except for the two nativity’s) One is on a shelf in the living room and the other is on my grandmothers vintage sewing machine in the dining room. They come down on Dec 7.
We take it down on the 26th because it’s my son’s birthday and I want him to know his birthday is not to be overshadowed by Christmas. I would take it down the 25th if I could. I also like the feeling of getting back to some level of normalcy too.
Dec 25 is the first day of Christmas so taking down the tree is not an option for us. To each his own. I spent a lot of time in Europe growing up and visit often. They really know how to celebrate Christmas.
It always saddens me when I drive around December 26 and see trees thrown and just discarded on the curb..
We keep our trees ( one artificial and one live) up until the Epiphany January 6th as it is the feast of when Jesus was revealed to the world. Also known as Feast of Three Kings. It has been tradition since I was a child. I agree that once decorations are down the whole house seems larger but bare. Although I like when it is cleaned up it is sad since the beauty of it all is missing.
I agree with your husband. But, you have to schedule taking it down, just like putting it up. I feel a bit of a depression because such extreme hype proceeds the holiday and then bam! it is over on Dec. 26th. That is the time that you can really enjoy the beautiful decorations, because there is time. Just my thoughts.
The Epiphany is actually January 6th, the date when the wise men supposedly reached Bethlehem. However, we don’t use the same calendar today that they used during that time. I think I read somewhere that his birthdate would have actually been sometime in September based on their calendar. But that’s neither here nor there now. I have an artificial tree and so my tree used to go up the day after Thanksgiving and came down the day before Valentine’s Day. Now I just leave it up for a couple of weeks because it’s white, and sparkly, and I love it. Everyone needs to do what fits their lifestyle best.
We only put up a tree and it came down today. Actually, it’s laying down In the front yard, but it is OUT of the house.
Day after Christmas is clean
Up day for me!! I love the feeling of “normal” when it is all down and the house is clean!!
We do Ephiphany – and do the 12 days of Christmas. Never have gone past Ephiphany and can take the whole tree down in an afternoon!
Our tree stays up until January 2. On December 30, I remove all but the lights (white) and put on all silver and gold balls. I take down all other Christmas decorations and put out silver, gold and white decorations ( mostly candles and clear containers filled with silver, white and gold balls. We normally host a New Years Eve party. It’s beautiful! Wish I could post a picture for you.
Me!! I love Christmas! I put our tree up the weekend following Thanksgiving or the weekend following at latest. I have 6 cats so it’s all I can do to keep the ornaments and tree skirt on the tree so come the 26th or very close to it mine comes down. I too love the new fresh open feeling. Ready for a new year!