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AIBU?

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Original poster

Taking down Christmas decorations

250 replies

Differentstarts · 30/12/2023 20:55

I know im being unreasonable as its none of my business what other people do but I get really annoyed at people who put Christmas decorations up in October and then take them down boxing day or like my friend Christmas day. I don't know why this annoys me but it does what happened to it being done on or at least around the 6th January. I'm just curious what others do?

OP posts:
Squarepeg79 · 31/12/2023 06:36

ChedderGorgeous · 31/12/2023 01:22

Up straight after Halloween and down Christmas day evening, or boxing day latest 🤗

@ChedderGorgeous this blows my mind. Christmas Day evening we are a bit merry and in the full swing of the festivities! Can’t imagine stopping it all to take the tree down. Sounds like the crappest Christmas Day ever!

crunchychange · 31/12/2023 06:51

People want to be the first to put it up and the first to take it down. Competition.

crunchychange · 31/12/2023 06:53

@Squarepeg79 christmas night 😂 we were half drunk and knackered lol.

WhatNoRaisins · 31/12/2023 07:17

Maybe this sounds judgy but I was discussing this a while back on something like December 28th with colleagues. I don't think the way we do secular Christmas is healthy, by that I mean this massive over excited build up to a single day and the following feeling of gloom once it's over.

I'd like to see more of a shutdown over the Christmas period where it's possible (obviously not for some jobs) and an emphasis on rest, reflection and connecting with others. I love Christmas but really don't like the build up and then boom it's all over way of doing the season.

sakura06 · 31/12/2023 07:18

We always keep ours up until at least the 6th. It was very ingrained in me as a child that it's 'bad luck' to leave them after this.

DH is Swedish and they take theirs down on January 13th which is St Knut's Day and the Twentieth Day of Christmas, so for the past few years, I've done it then. There are specific traditions associated with the day (e.g. eating chocolate hanging from it and actually throwing the tree out). I am seriously considering keeping the tree up until Candlemas though as I hate January and its bleakness! I need all the light I can get!

TerfTalking · 31/12/2023 07:37

Up first weekend in December, down 27th or 28th. They were gone last Thursday, mine was the first tree in the garden waste skip at the recycling centre. 😊

I detest decorations still being up at NY.

sanityisamyth · 31/12/2023 07:41

I moved house on 22nd December. DS wanted a tree up with decorations so he did that. We were at a friend's house on Christmas Day and then going on holiday 27-30th December so I asked him to take them down on Boxing Day. I'm still surrounded by boxes as got no storage and I hate Christmas. The last thing I need is a Christmas tree standing in the corner for weeks just because.

Babyblackbear78 · 31/12/2023 07:51

Up the second week of December and done on the 12th night

Original poster
Differentstarts · 31/12/2023 08:13

ChedderGorgeous · 31/12/2023 01:22

Up straight after Halloween and down Christmas day evening, or boxing day latest 🤗

This is exactly what I'm talking about you sound like a lot of people I know and I just don't understand it.

OP posts:
Haruka · 31/12/2023 08:13

Decorations go up around the first and come down some time between the 27th and New Year's Eve.

I like to start the new year with a reasonably tidy house and that is easier with less stuff out on display.

crunchychange · 31/12/2023 08:14

@WhatNoRaisins I agree with you. I do think there is good reason for this behaviour though it is not ideal.

People are under so much pressure and want something exciting to look forward to. It's escapism for a lot of people. Until boxing day. The presents have been opened, it's all over.

Christmas used to be about r&r, time, family, charity, gratitude.

It feels like the purge now.

blobby10 · 31/12/2023 08:16

Mine went up on 7th dec and will come down today - when I had a particularly shitty Christmas they came down earlier. Even when the children were little they came down NYE mainly due to needle drop!
Now it’s just me I prefer to spend NYE cleaning ready for a fresh start ☺️☺️

WhatNoRaisins · 31/12/2023 08:20

crunchychange · 31/12/2023 08:14

@WhatNoRaisins I agree with you. I do think there is good reason for this behaviour though it is not ideal.

People are under so much pressure and want something exciting to look forward to. It's escapism for a lot of people. Until boxing day. The presents have been opened, it's all over.

Christmas used to be about r&r, time, family, charity, gratitude.

It feels like the purge now.

I think also because it's pretty much the only collective festival still celebrated in any way in the UK. Easter is just a chocolate egg for most people and maybe another big roast and there's nothing for us to potentially celebrate together in summer months.

Maybe it would be better to have several smaller celebrations throughout the year to put Christmas into perspective.

electriclight · 31/12/2023 08:23

I genuinely do not understand why putting decorations up early, and taking them down early, is being aligned with some sort of moral failing - as if we see Christmas differently.

We also see Christmas as a time for rest, relaxation, family, charity and gratitude.

We just want to get started on that earlier than you do. Love the tree, love the lights, love coming home to the wreath on the door.

This inflexible way of thinking, this belief that anyone who does things differently to you, this failure to see that traditions change over time cannot be healthy. I imagine there were people in Victorian Britain who clutched their pearls when people started putting trees up inside their house. But things change.

Tryingtokeepgoing · 31/12/2023 08:25

We always used to go away for new year, so took the decorations down on the 28/29th. Even though I am now on my 5th new year without him I still take the decorations down before new year. I miss the lights, I don’t miss the clutter of cards and trees!

springtome · 31/12/2023 08:38

I never understand anyone who takes them down before New Year's Day. For me, new year celebrations are as much about the Christmas season as Christmas Day/Boxing Day. We always do a lovely meal and celebrate both days.

My DH likes them up when he goes back to work, I would have them up longer. He is back on the third but I am back on the 8th. We will probably take bits down on the second but I don't intend to take my tree down right away as I love it.

FeelingSoOverwhelmed · 31/12/2023 08:44

We usually get ours up on the first weekend of December and take them down around the 27th. I enjoy the decorations while they're there but I find Christmas decorations after the big day a bit flat for some reason. I live in a city with a fairly famous Christmas market and I feel the same about that - lights and stuff look pretty and I can get into the Christmas spirit beforehand but afterwards it just feels too much!

Plus the tree starts to lose its needles and I like a clear, tidy house for Hogmanay.

To answer your original question, you know YABU! Who cares what other people do? Social media sounds like part of the problem. Who cares if people want to have some pretty lights to break up the long winters nights and then take them down on Boxing day?

Isitsixoclockalready · 31/12/2023 08:47

I do like NY to be a fresh start personally but some decorations do seem to go up crazily early. I guess that we're all influenced by advertisers and shops to a greater or lesser extent.

YouCantBeSadHoldingACupcake · 31/12/2023 08:58

Mine go up last weekend in November and down before the kids go back to school. This year they will be coming down on the 2nd.

ghostytoast · 31/12/2023 09:01

MistyGreenAndBlue · 31/12/2023 01:04

Each to their own I guess, but I can't get on board with this "clear it all away for the New Year" rhetoric. To me, at least, it's not a proper New Year without the Christmas tree up. It's just part of it

As for, "I want it down before I go back to work."
Why? It was probably up before you finished work, wasn't it? What's the difference?

12th Night is the 5th btw.

The decorations at work/school will be down when people go back too, it's the end of "Christmas time" for the majority of people.

JenniferJupiterVenusandMars · 31/12/2023 09:01

My record is up Christmas Eve and down Boxing Day.
This year they went up on the 22nd after my birthday and came down on the 28th.

2024BigWhoop · 31/12/2023 09:05

The decorations go up about 2 weeks before Christmas and then I take it all down on the 27th. I don’t like the mess and clutter and to me Christmas feels over after Boxing Day anyway.

Ivalueloyaltyaboveallelse · 31/12/2023 09:06

I like my Christmas decs down before NYE. I like a fresh clean house so I can enjoy NYD and relax with family before we return to work and school on 2nd. However I couldn’t care less about what other people do.

margotrose · 31/12/2023 09:19

Ours came down on Boxing Day 🤷‍♀️

We only have a small house (no children) and I wanted my space back. The cats are also happy because their cat tree is now back in its' proper location Grin

WhatNoRaisins · 31/12/2023 09:30

For me the decorations down before back to school is just to make it easier for the kids. It feels like a big shift going from celebrating Christmas to getting up early and putting on uniform and going to school. I feel the need to make it clear that this season is over and it's time to go back to our normal life.