Christmas Tree question

kaos16

I just mentioned to DH that I was going to run to the store to see if they had a clearance tree topper today, since we don't have one. . . and haven't for a few years now (whoops).  He mentioned that the tree has to come down by New Year's Day anyway.  I have never heard of such a thing.  I think I remember the tree being up a week or two into January as a kid because we'd have people over and it looked festive.  

Does anyone have a rule they use in their household about when the tree comes down?  Does it matter whether it is a fake or real tree?

For the record, it has been up for about a week. . . . we were really slackers this year!

lyndausvi

There is no one size fits all answer here.

My BIL's SIL takes down her tree on morning of the 26th. No exceptions.  The tree and decorations are GONE.

I normally keep it up until around the 1st or so. This year most likely I will take it down on Saturday because I'm off work.  

 My family was the same way.  We always had people over between xmas and the new year.  So it seemed to make sense to keep it up.  (1) we were busy and (2) others wanted to see our decorations.

I do know some people (especially in the islands) that leave it up till 3 kings day (jan 6).

Heffalump

It's funny that you mention it, because yesterday DH was asking "What's the rule on Christmas decorations [regarding taking them down]?" as if there is a single, monolithic rule that came down on stone tablets or something.  My family always took them down by New Year's, and TBH, I already have all of our ornaments and some of the window lights down.  Our tree is probably coming down on NYE.  We're waiting to hear if we're approved for a home visit for a kitten adoption, so part of me wants the house to be as kitten-proofed as possible, but I normally don't leave them up too long anyway.

madamerwin

We usually take ours down around New Years Day - I am guessing we will spend part of next Sunday taking everything down. But like @lyndausvi said I don't think there's a hard and fast rule. I also know people who take everything down the day after Christmas, and as a kid I am pretty sure we left our tree up for a week or two after New Years, out of sheer laziness.

ETF word choice

thefanciestbeckler

Growing up, my mom would leave the tree up until New Year's Day or a little after. Then one year she randomly decided it could not stay up past the day after Christmas. She always dreaded the process of taking it down, so I guess she just wanted to get it over with.

Now that I'm married and out on my own, I think DH and I will leave it up a week or two into January. Why rush taking it down when it looks so pretty??

emmaaa

I always take it down on New Year's Day, mainly because I'm off that day. I like to leave it up for about a week after Christmas so that we can enjoy it longer. We put it up on black Friday and take it down on January 1. 

CharmedPam

Funny you mention it.  I told FI we should water the tree yesterday (which we didn't.  ooooops) and he said "what are you going to do with it? Shouldn't we take it down soon?"  I gave him an odd look with "it stays up until after new years!".  I guess his family tore it down right away while mine did keep it up until the 2nd or 3rd.  I at least leave it up for New Years Eve.

banana468

We leave it up until after the New Year.   We may not take down all decorations but I think the tree will be down by this weekend.   It's been shedding a ton of leaves and I wouldn't mind getting some of my space back.   

holyguacamole79

DH and I just had this talk. In the Catholic tradition, you're supposed to leave your tree / decorations up until the Epiphany (January 6). So we'll likely take it down sometime that week. It's not considered a sin or anything bad if you take it down before.

Otherwise, take it down whenever. I know someone who posted on FB that she had her tree down by lunchtime on the 26 th. That's too soon, IMO.

jenna8984

My family is same as @emmaaa . Always put it up the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving and take it down New Years Day. I've always had fake.

MobKaz

holyguacamole79 said:

DH and I just had this talk. In the Catholic tradition, you're supposed to leave your tree / decorations up until the Epiphany (January 6). So we'll likely take it down sometime that week. It's not considered a sin or anything bad if you take it down before. Otherwise, take it down whenever. I know someone who posted on FB that she had her tree down by lunchtime on the 26 th. That's too soon, IMO.

This is what I grew up with as well.  

In my own family, the tree always remains up until at least New Year's Day.  However, I do try to take it down prior to returning to school.  It's too hard to find the time once school begins.  I do decorate the other rooms with less Christmas-centric pieces and more general winter things, so those do remain out until the end of January.

The house looks so barren once February rolls around.

emmaaa

jenna8984 said:

My family is same as @emmaaa . Always put it up the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving and take it down New Years Day. I've always had fake.

SIB***

My family always had fake too. But DH and I have a real tree so I'm ready to have it down.

OliveOilsMom

We also go by the January 6th rule in our house.  We will probably wait until the following weekend, since the 6th is a Wednesday this year.  I like having the tree up as long as possible.  One year we bought the tree really close to Christmas and I just felt like as soon as I put it up, it came back down.  So we will always try our best to buy the tree Thanksgiving weekend.  We also have a really big and full tree this year, that I will be sad to take down!

The outside lights sometimes will stay up longer, we try to wait for a warmer day to get them all down.  But that may not be an issue this year!  We had a warm Christmas, a winter weather advisory for today, and then its supposed to warm back up again.  But since we have over a week to go until the 6th, we will see what happens with the weather.

labro

We get a real tree every year but I still generally like to keep it up as long as possible - which means it stays until the first trash pickup day after New Years.

I haven't felt very Christmasy this year....the weather has been incredibly warm and humid and rainy for the last two weeks and I hate it so I've already started taking down decorations and getting everything put away for the year. I'll definitely have everything down prior to New Years Eve which isn't typical for me. 

luckya23

At home we always kept it up until New Years.  In my own places, I was a lazy bum, so I was doing well if it was down in February.  DH dislikes clutter, so we only had a palm tree this year, and we are already looking forward to taking it down this week.  In fact I may take it down today, since my houseguest just left! My mom's dog messed up the brand new (received xmas eve) tree skirt, so I'm over the whole thing!

CSol70

I like real one's. love the smell. I got mine on the 20th and I plan to remove it Jan 3rd or 4rd.

peachy13

The weekend after New Year's is when the tree (and outside Christmas) lights comes down in my house. We did this growing up and DH and I do it now.

ETA: my town even does a tree pick-up service the Monday morning after New Years.

AddieCake

We always take ours down New Year's Day, but sometimes I'm too lazy to do it for a couple weeks. 

themosthappy91

My family takes ours down when it becomes a serious fire hazard- meaning closer to the beginning of February than the beginning of January. When I was in college my parents always left it up until after I went back to school, which was always around Jan. 23rd.

I am gathering from this thread that this is far from the norm. It would break my heart to take my tree down the day after Christmas and honestly I don't know if I can even bring myself to do it this weekend! Though that would make the most sense for me and H work-wise.

Anyone else push keeping the tree to its super-limits?

SP29

We usually leave ours up until sometime after New Years. 

I use to leave it up until Jan 6th, but it might come down next weekend, as I'll be off. 

charlottesmom0626

When I think of "the holiday season" I include New Years Eve, so my tree usually comes down sometime within the first week of the new year. My parents do the same.

JoanE2012

emmaaa said:

I always take it down on New Year's Day, mainly because I'm off that day. I like to leave it up for about a week after Christmas so that we can enjoy it longer. We put it up on black Friday and take it down on January 1. 

Same here!  Though we have people coming over that weekend, so it may stay up until Jan 3rd.  

Also, @kaos16 - we have no tree topper either!  All I want is a simple, lightweight angel.  Everything I've found is super heavy and doesn't stand up well on our fake tree.  We're on year 3 with no topper.

spockforprez

New Year's Day. We had a real tree growing up so we didn't put it up until the weekend before Christmas. This gave about a 10 day to 2.5 week span to have to take care of the tree and water it, etc. which was nice as it did not start drying out and shedding.

I do prefer putting up the tree closer to Christmas but this year we did it earlier because the timing wasn't right.

I also hate how local radio stations quit playing Christmas music on the 26th. Like, it's still festive time! People are still having parties and celebrating! 

ericasm0703

Growing up, we always took it down around Epiphany, for the simple reason that my mom is a Christmas lover and wants to prolong the Christmas spirit as long as possible. This year our tree was a total bust in many aspects. Today, FI turned the lights on so he could see to put water in the stand and said it smelled like it was burning so he unplugged it and took everything down to get rid of it. I'm just thankful that he paid enough attention to it and the tree (and our house) didn't go up in flames. 

thisismynickname2

Epiphany here as well. 12 days of Christmas, y'all!

themosthappy91

spockforprez said:

New Year's Day. We had a real tree growing up so we didn't put it up until the weekend before Christmas. This gave about a 10 day to 2.5 week span to have to take care of the tree and water it, etc. which was nice as it did not start drying out and shedding.

I do prefer putting up the tree closer to Christmas but this year we did it earlier because the timing wasn't right.

I also hate how local radio stations quit playing Christmas music on the 26th. Like, it's still festive time! People are still having parties and celebrating! 

I feel the same! To me it's a build-up/cool down ratio. If we are going to spend as long as we do hyping and building up to Christmas- let's be real, at the very latest people start observing the season on Dec. 1- we need to have a brief cool down period once the event has passed so the shift isn't super abrupt and traumatic. I also get sad when people stop putting on their outdoor Christmas lights the day after Christmas.

hellohkb

My mom took their tree down on the 26th. We didn't have a tree this year, but we would likely take it down in early January.

cupcait927

We leave ours up until New Year's or the weekend after New Year's (depending on when it falls). My dad always did it that way, H's parents always kept theirs up that long so we've continued that tradition. I'll probably work taking things down on New Year's day this year so I can enjoy the rest of the weekend and not have to worry about it.

MairePoppy

We take our tree down on the weekend following NYD. As much as I love our Christmas tree and ornaments, it's nice to get the house back to normal. The rest of the decorations will be put away by mid month.