To love Christmas, but LOATHE decorating the tree?

[Blastandbollocks]

Love twinkling lights. Love candles, tinsel, family, wine, song etc.

Hate the Christmas tree decorating. The lights always end in a tangle which DH manfully tries to sort and fails. DS nicks all the good tinsel for "his" tree, the baubles have lost their hooks, the tree sheds all over the floor, and there's a family row to end all fights.

In short, can you pay someone to do it for you?!

Your ds has his own tree?!

Well, sort of. There is the big tree in the conservatory, and then a small one in the hall. That's the one he decorates so it's "his" tree.

Although nothing beats a real tree, fiber optic ones are a godsend

My living room currently looks like a Christmas elf has spewed all over it. I always think my tree looks sparse and gappy despite how much I spent on it. The kids are over excited, shouting and screechy and decorating it in the most random fashion. It's disorganised chaos in fact. I need 500 batteries for the many many lights and decs, and they mostly need glueing back together. The family row is brewing. I need a drink. That's it, I'll get a drink.
YANBU

My bare naked Christmas tree is sitting in the living room. All of a sudden I’m just not interested in decorating it. It’s an absolute pain in the arse, and we never get the lights on the right way.

Ok it’s too late to help you this year but when this tree comes down be absolutely military in putting everything away neatly and with the lights wrapped around an old magazine to keep them tangle free.

Next year do it all alone when everyone else is out. The idea that the whole family can have a wonderful time putting the tree up together is yet another Disneyesque fantasy deigned to make you feel bad about yourself.

For this year I recommend wine.

I have a pre-lit tree and teens old enough to decorate it themselves. Much better.

Yes you can buy them pre decorated or hire someone to do it for you

No decorating the tree is brilliant, I love it!

I even love DH muttering and cursing about the lights, just like my own dearly departed dad when I was a kid

Pre lit is the way to go.

Yeah. The lights are about 7m long. A magazine isn't going to cut it.

I dont like doing it. Nor does Dh. DC used to help but a teenager nowadays not interested. I am debating about getting a decorated lit up tree this year. Slightly smaller one as have a bay window and could put it in there.

@Blastandbollocks

Yeah. The lights are about 7m long. A magazine isn't going to cut it.

You need to save a stiff piece of cardboard from a box, I do this every year, wrap it round, and when we take them out, they are never tangled. 7m is fine, it’s just like doing a vacuum cord.

And if you’ve basically got knackered old baubles and mismatch tinsel, why not treat yourself to some new ones? It won’t be very exciting if you’re basically using tired ones.

Baubles are fine. Mixture of new and old. It's just the faff of doing it. Still, it's done now so I'm off for a bath with a cup of tea and my iPad.

@Whatsissname tell me about the fibre optic trees of which you speak

We put the tree up and I spent an hour ‘fluffing’ it. Then put lights on. It took ages to untangle one of the sets so did not get around to decorating. But it looks so pretty just lots of lights with the star on top that I am considering not bothering to do any more.

[quote letsnotscaretheneighbours]@Whatsissname tell me about the fibre optic trees of which you speak[/quote]
Haha ! Well mine is a bit ancient but looks like this. No lights - just pop on a few baubles and plug in and go!

That sounds like my kind of heaven

Taking it down is worse. Like unpacking is

We don't wrap our lights around anything but they do get stored, carefully coiled, in their box and not just dragged out. One person holds them and unwinds the coil slowly while the other person places them around the tree. They can then be shifted around for even placement. I don't think we bother trying to attach them in any way, they rest on the branches.

No real tree, too much faff.

Don't let DS steal all the tinsel, OP. Have separated tree decoration boxes or split up the decorations so he knows what he can use.

I do all the room decorating as DH isn't bothered about it but he will help hold the end of things while I wrap things around the curtain rods etc.

I put lights on my tree this year which are usually for windows and are netted. Literally just placed it on top of tree. All nicely spaced out and looks great. Took seconds.

I have found that decorating over a couple of days is better for me, I put the tree together and position the branches, then put on the lights. Then I leave it to settle and do less time consuming decs, things that can simply be hung on a hook or placed on a surface. Next day I can take my time over decorating the tree and it’s much more enjoyable, less of a chore.

I don't mind doing it as long as I can do it on my own. If DH is involved, it's just a load of 'put that one there' and 'no, not there'.

This year was the first year it has been fun since DS was born. He’s 8 and was able to help, properly help without it being stressful. We cranked up the Christmas songs, it was great. (Did it yesterday)