AIBU or is decorating the Christmas tree excruciating?

When I was still at the family home and a willing Christmas participant, I usually decorated the tree alongside my sister and we made a good fist of it (provided we had a decent quality tree in the first place). I was already responsible for the lights and took great care to make sure there were no blown bulbs and I packed all the sets (several) in a stout cardboard box with a layer of newspaper separating each set. No tangles and they all worked! Our spaniels and cat would often sit and observe - helping, some might say!

I don't mind putting the final touches - but I wouldn't mind having Dudley the angel for the rest of it

I'm cross because all the nice decorations at IKEA have been sold.

🫢😂

I love the final but of putting the decorations on, but everything else you need to do to get to this point is a pain in the arse.

I put 2000 lights on the fucking thing yesterday only for the plug to snap off. I literally cut them all off in temper. Tree is bare in the living room waiting for new lights to be delivered.

I feel exactly the same. It makes me almost panicky. I love taking the decorations down.

That said I put mine up today and it didn't induce the same level of 'fuck no' that it usually does.

All I will say is I hate putting on the lights!!! They are in the naughty corner for the night and I shall try again tomorrow.
Once the lights are on the rest is fine and I love it, but that initial bit just drives me a little insane.

I have to confess that I love decorating the tree. I usually get a small living tree (I've had no success with keeping them alive) and put it in a pot of gravel so it stays upright. I have tree ornaments from throughout my life, some from my parents, others gifted to me, and others that I have bought, and it's lovely to put them on the tree and think about where they came from.

I don't have kids, but have often visited friends who do have them to dress the tree together; we book an afternoon to do it, and bake cookies as well and sing carols, so it becomes a special event. Maybe you could do that with your kids? It might feel less stressful if you moved the furniture, put away/threw away junk, and vacuumed one evening when the kids are in bed, and also detangled the lights and sorted out the tree ornaments. Next morning, maybe before the kids are up or when they are at school or daycare, put up the tree and drape the lights on it. When it's time to decorate the tree, each person puts on one ornament at a time. Maybe your kids could make one or more ornaments, or go shopping with them to buy them each one of their choice?

Awful I make my adult DD do it and my DH to take it down again!

Opening the bloody branches up gets on my nerves!

We're just putting Christmas tree pictures up on the walls and windows this year.

I love it. I do it with my adult dd. We did hers on Friday and she's coming to help do ours next weekend. My only problem is we've moved from a 3bed semi to a small park home and my dh is under the impression that we won't have anywhere for my collection of soft toy reindeer but I have a plan.

That is genius!

Just ignore the kids and do what you like. Or do what I used to do and get them to put stuff on the tree, and then calmly rearrange them "oh that one looks lovely there darling, this one is a bit too heavy for that branch so I'll just move it". Etc etc etc. worked fine and I ended up with a lovely tree and they felt involved. Win win.

My kids are huge pains in the arse a lot of the time but this is one thing that is absolutely lovely - we get out all the decorations and they reminisce about them all, half of them are silly lopsided handmade ones from when they were at nursery, most of the decorating end up at child height but it makes me happy

I'm starting to think there is something seriously wrong with my 2 cats as they have never shown any interest in the christmas tree 😂 the only thing they go mad for is the ribbon on presents.

I do decorating in stages. I have ceiling stuff that goes up first (high ceilings so need a ladder). Then it's the wall stuff and ornaments. Then the tree itself. Then lights, then finally tree decorations. All done on different days. It's the only way I can deal with it.

This year I actually started mid November! And finished yesterday. It'll all get taken down in stages too.

This exactly

Yabu

I absolutely love it -but my kids are 19 and 17 and just leave me to it. DS has a little tree in his own room that he decorates as he wishes.
I'm really fussy about putting my decorations and lights away properly in named boxes every year so I can find everything with no clutter and no untangling lights etc. It really helps. I luckily don't have to move or rearrange much furniture.
I'd try and minimise it if possible OP. Could your DD have a little tree of her own in her room for her to go wild on, while downstairs is more minimal? DS is also autistic and really enjoys his own tree.

YABU check your privilege.

No kids here but we all love Christmas

this is me to a tee. All the familiar baubles and decorations are like old friends and I get v nostalgic and misty eyed over it all.
My youngest daughter and I did it on Monday last week and it had only been up.a day when one set of lights broke! And it was looking so good! I had to cut them off and try to thread a new set through without wrecking it too much ! So it doesn't look quite as good but I can't be bothered to take it all off and start again.
I do love christmas and having the tree up.

Yabu. You have very serious problems that you should address before you kill any spark of joy in anyone who lives with you quite urgently.

For years i had images of xmas music playing softly in the background, mulled wine (all hone made) heating gently on the stove, kids happily helping and getting on great, me explaining all the history of the decorations and artfully dressing the real tree.

In reality the kids weren't interested in any decorations except the chocolate ones, mulled wine gave me a headache, the tree is artificial and I'm sick of xmas music by 1st December.

Usually now i bugger off and dh does it.