Why do people take the Christmas tree down Boxing Day?

[wheredolobely]

My Facebook is full of it
Ripped down Christmas night.
I don't understand it.
Most of them had them up since the day after Halloween (when it wasn't even Christmas )
Then rip it down when it's Christmas (12 days of Christmas)
Oh I'm sick of the mess
Need my living room back
Honestly i don't understand the logic
Why not enjoy the festive season as long as possible

The 12 days of Christmas is a religious idea isn't it? And most folk aren't actively Christian any more.

For most people Christmas events are mostly pre Xmas and not post Xmas I think.

I find the period between Xmas and NY quite frustrating tbh. All the things you suddenly have actual time to do with friends and family and that I seem to want to do are closed eg our local museums and botanic gardens, lots of restaurants etc.

We have ours up from Christmas Eve until 12th night. The DC are older teens though, when they were younger they’d be asking to put decorations up the minute they got their advent calendars, and I’d be sick of the tree by Boxing Day.

@Catsanus why would you call people choosing to put their own trees up early, 'wank stains'?

Bit weird.

Well it makes sense if you've had it up since not long after Halloween, like a lot of people in my area !

I only put mine up a few days ago, so won't be taking it down til 6th January.

Mine went up on the 13th, came down today. I'm not feeling particularly festive this year as my cat has been missing (since the tree went up) but the tree always comes down about now (or the day after, depends when I book the tip slot for). I don't have the space for it, furniture has to be moved, the cat igloo has to be moved, the scratching post has to move.

I guess it balances out the people that announce they have their trees up in October, which I think is ridiculous. But to each their own.

Our tree stays up until 12th night, as per tradition and it also cheers me up once I'm back at work the first few days of jam to come home and put the twinkly lights on! I do start removing the decorations gradually from 2nd Jan onwards as there are a lot (we have one main tree and four smaller ones around the house).

It's definitely still Christmas here. I worked up to the 23rd and now off until 2nd Jan so lots of Christmassy stuff still to do. Panto this evening. Visit to my parents tomorrow. 28th my sons girlfriend is coming to stay from a week so we'll own presents with her and gave a special dinner. 29th we are all booked to go on a light trail etc. 30th & 31st friends visiting from Scotland ...

Our house is perfectly clean, we dust and hoover around the tree. It doesn't look cluttered. If your decorations look like "clutter" you should buy nicer ones next year that you enjoy looking at!

Down with November decorating! It's like wearing your coat indoors so you don't "feel the benefit".

I hope your cat turns up soon @XxSideshowAuntSallyx

Because everyone's different?

Some people love putting it up after Halloween when the nights draw in shorter and shorter.

They love the build up and finding gifts for friends and family.

They love the over indulgence of food and drink over the BH.

Then they want to move on. Probably have to return to work?

@wheredolobely

I'm reading this too, we have our up until after 12th night and I'm tempted to hang onto candlemas for the tree, but take off all decs apart from the lights

In our house Christmas is the school/work holiday fortnight. I don't like having the decorations up much before that and take the tree down around the 2nd of Jan.

Apparently Christmas officially lasts until Candlemas, which is the 2nd February. A bit late even for me! - our tree will come down on 6th Jan as usual.

I will never understand how anyone can have an opinion on when someone you don't even live with takes down or puts up their tree. It genuinely baffles me. I'm actually quite nosey and definitely not laid back but the thought of giving a shit when someone in a completely different house takes down their tree - I can't even imagine.

And then loads of other people comment about how they don't take theirs down until 12th night like they are seeking approval from strangers on the internet for doing Christmas correctly. It happens every year.

It’s the people who can’t enjoy the moment and need to move onto the next thing.

Not seen any if that on this thread just different timescales for different families.

I think it's mostly people who put them up really early too.

We put ours up about a week-ish before (live tree) and keep it until the New Year... maybe not always as far as the 5th/6th though.

Thank you.

Mine will come down tomorrow I think. I can't breath near it without the floor getting drenched in pine needles.

It's been up since the 1st. It's beautiful. But I like to see the new year in with my house clean and today and back to normal.

It feels so minimalist when all the decorations go away!!!

Because they want to? Because they don't follow the religious tradition and 12th night means absolutely nothing to them?

I think it's over by New Years Day, and I'd probably take mine down then but inertia takes over so it stays up a couple days longer.
@Roaminginthegloaming I grew up in the US and only one person I knew took their tree down the day after Christmas. Most kept theirs up to twelfth night or near enough.

Ours is coming down tomorrow because we fly to France on Saturday until the 8th Jan.

If it’s a real tree it’s quite a job to keep everywhere clean and tidy.

If a fake tree, much easier.

I think it’s the opposite — people who can’t just enjoy autumn for what it is and have to jump ahead to Christmas as soon as Halloween is over.

Then as soon as that’s over they’re heading for their summer holiday… 😂

It's not just the fact that they take it down so quickly, it's the glee with which they do it, like it's some sort of competition. And the desperation to have everything put away and spotless, I think a lot of these people are just control freaks.