So... when do you put YOUR Christmas tree up?

[TooMuchCaffeine]

DH and I are not really into Christmas and only really have the tree for DS. Last year ours went up in early December, and to be honest I got fed up with looking at it by the time Christmas came. Our tree always comes down on New Years Day - always.

The last couple of years as DS (now 8) has got older, it has been fun decorating the tree together and become somewhat of a ritual in our little family. We have always had Christmas just the three of us as our family is quite fragmented and spread out (physically and emotionally)

SOmeone on my Facebook wrote theirs is going up this weekend. I was thinking of doing it on the 16th when they break up from school which is when I feel the "holiday" really starts. What do you all think?

Last weekend before Christmas, usually. Never before the 14th as that is my birthday and even Our Lord's birthday doesn't take precedence over mine!

Plus real tree+ too early = bald tree and needles in carpet by Xmas day.

We put our artificial one up today- thought we would make the most of the strike day- otherwise it would have been next weekend (but ds has loads of school events we have to ferry him around to!). Dc's helped my mum put her tree up on Sunday which is a tradition- although every year she says she won't do it again Pre- children, putting my tree up involved mulled wine and watching 'It's a Wonderful life'- not any more

We only have the tree/cards though no extra lights and stuff. I do like having the tree up. Stays up til 12th night- although I used to take it down on dec30th (my birthday)- don't do that now.

Mind you- it may not last the month- DD2 (14 months) keeps taking the decs off the tree- ds and dd1 never, ever bothered with the tree when they were babies, so this could be fun!

Ours usually goes up the first weekend of December but we're going to be away next weekend. I have friends coming to stay the weekend after so I'll try and put it up some time next week. I normally can't wait to put the tree and decorations up but am not feeling it this year , not sure why.

Maybe as the days drift by I'll feel more enthusiastic.

About 2nd weekend in December. We always have a real one and have found selection to be limited in the last 2 yrs if we buy it then, so I am considering buying it this weekend and hanging on to it for a bit.

This year I put it up on the first day of advent (last Sunday) but tradition in our family has always been the weekend after than 9th December. I did it early because I was desperate to show my DD the Christmas tree - she wasn't impressed. If I had my way it would be down before NY but OH insists it stays up until the 6th Jan as that is when xmas is celebrated in his home country

Christmas eve! It takes up too much room (even the tabletop one we have) and the kids won't leave it alone. There's been years when we've not bothered with one for this reason.

10th/11th ish. Used to be always closer to Christmas, but the DCs go to exH's for the second half of the Christmas holiday so I have been putting it up earlier for a few years now so they can get more value out of it.

About 14th Dec.

Comes down on 5th Jan before Epiphany on the 6th.

Someone round here had theirs up mid November and all the lights in the garden and huge Santa etc too

Second sunday of december!

Second sunday of december!

Ours usually goes up the 1st weekend of December & comes down on 5th Jan.

Although the decorations are packed right at the back of the under stairs cupboard so not sure if they will be going up this weekend. We'll probably dig them out then DH will leave me to sort it out next week! Not that he usually helps mind you, & I am a bit anal particular about what goes where! :o

ours goes up 1st wkend dec.comes down 4th[eldest dd bday on 5th and have always taken them down so her birthday doesnt get absorbed into xmas.thow ds is 18th dec but he likes it all in the xmas chaos!should have planned more carefully when to have kids]

Earliest = 12 days before Christmas

The weekend of 10/11th. real tree, nordmann spuce, needle retaining. They look pretty good for 3 weeks or so if you take care of them, any earlier and it will look a bit droopy on the day.

I put ours up today! As kids were off I thought it would be a nice family day-hell was I stupid!

I couldnt find the base for the tree and literally tore the house apart looking for it. Cue much swearing when I then had to put it back together again. Children were as helpful as chocolate teapots and all in all took me 5 bloody hours!

On the plus side I now have 3 huge bags full of tat for the charity shop.

It's going up this weekend and coming down on the 30th ready for ds's birthday on nye :)

Generally put mine up sometime around the 10th, along with other decorations. I don't like it going up too soon , but I also don't like too leave it much later than that, otherwise that job all the myriad Christmas jobs start to pile up and cause panic.

Ridiculous, isn't it? Why does it matter? Why do I bother panicking?

I take it down sometime around the 6th.

I'm getting a real tree this yr, its coming on the 15th which is quite late by my standards but didn't want it to be bald by xmas day (no prior experience of real trees).

Our tree went up today - I had the time to rearrange the room and Hoover the area it's going (part of the sofa was there). We'll decorate it Saturday.
I needed to get the boxes down from the loft anyway as the advent calendars are in there plus I had time today - if I hadn't done it today we probably wouldn't get round to putting it up at all as December looks manic!
Pre kids we put it up A few days before Christmas.

Christmas Eve until twelfth night, idealy. We are often away though so it goes up slightly earlier, or dh lets the children put it up even earlier and presents me with a fait accompli :(

Mine is up since sunday!!dd who is coming up to 3 is just about understanding santa and is so excited...my house is a little bit like santas grotto and the kids love it..me too! There is so much depresion around what with the recession it is nice to have a little bit of magic and lots of twinkling lights..why not..it certainly cheers up a windy rainy evening!!!

I thought I'd got away with it, as DD disappeared most of the day to her friend's house. But just after dinner she asked me to get the stuff out and she's busy baubling now.

Not sooner than 10 days before Christmas.

I have a dumb question - for people who put lights up around your window (indoors but to be seen both from inside and outside) - do you have to put nails into your window frame to do this, or is there some other way only real grown ups know about?

DD would love us to have lights up (other than the ones which will go on the Christmas tree, which will be chosen in the forest by the kids, cut by DH and bought at a forest Christmas market the weekend before Christmas and be put up as part of Christmas eve festivities - local custom dictates it is bad luck to put the tree up earlier, and I don't want it up earlier anyway. Decorations can go up from 1st advent - so Sunday just gone, but not trees...)

Anyway I am usually minimalist on decorations but would get some lights for around the living room windows, which acn be seen from the road, for the kids' sake, if I only had a clue how to put them up properly without putting nails in the wooden window frames of our rented house... Any suggestions?