Taking the tree and decorations down on Boxing Day

[ImJustMadAboutSaffron]

I mean, what? It is still the Christmas / festive period right up to New Year's Day.

I don't understand why decorations are put up as early as the day after Halloween (which I have seen people squealing about this year like no other) and then taken down whilst it is actually still Christmas.

Mine aren't going up until Wednesday this week at the earliest and will come down 6 January as I'm away for a few days after New Year.

Yep- this. I take my tree down as soon as Christmas is over, say 27th ish. I had no idea this would bemuse or annoy anyone else since it doesn’t affect them in any way, shape, or form 🤣

It's only discussion!

I know. But it’s such an insignificant issue 🤷‍♀️ To me, it just feels odd having Christmas stuff up after Christmas is over. There is so much build up to it- starting in the shops in September that by 27th Dec I’m really so over it and want the house back to normal asap.

So for me, Christmas starts in the 25th. Everything up until then is Advent, which is all about waiting and preparation. Even if you do a secular Christmas, it's the time when you the planning and preparation. Then you get twelve glorious days of sparkly lights and board games and new year's parties and eating leftovers and cheese and cake and chocolate oranges and not having to think about presents or hosting or dinner timings or any of that pre-Christmas stuff and not really cooking properly, until you are a little bit fed up and just want some nice vegetable soup and at the end of the twelve days you put away the decorations and tidy the house and make the soup having had a break from dismal winter grimness.

And it affects you how, OP. Are they coming round to yours to take your decorations down?

It's just a discussion. Simmer down.

This is why I started the thread. To see what people thought. Different opinions.

I can't imagine why anyone would get up on Boxing Day - a day made for chilling out, watching TV and eating chocolate ‐ and decide they need to take the tree down and clean the house. How depressing. I love the week between Christmas and New Year and having the decorations up is part of that. It's so dark, the lights etc make everything cosier.

We usually wait till 12th night to take them down, maybe earlier depending on when school restarts. We put ours up a week or two before Christmas.

Nothing comes down until 6th Jan here. I particularly like the period between Christmas and New Year - it still feels very Christmassy, lots of lovely leftovers, minimal cooking - and no shopping! Except perhaps for bread and milk, but they don’t really count.

I agree that the period after Christmas Day is the best part of Christmas: no worrying about presents, food etc, and we've usually got plenty of leftovers so I don't have to think about shopping either. Why make work and go back to the boring everyday by taking down the decorations early? It makes no sense.

If you're so desperate to have the house "normal", why bother with Christmas decorations at all?

My inlaws Church keep their tree up until candlemas 40 days after Christmas day....

I say take them down whenever you choose as long as the devs aren’t being ‘ripped’ down on Boxing Day as my BIL was won’t to do - he is an absolutely horrible man and did his level best to taint any happy occasion 👍🏿☘️

Um..... because they've been up since beginning of December. A month is plenty long enough to enjoy them. I didnt realise it was law to keep them up until January 😂

We have a birthday after Christmas, so decs are up in early Dec, sparkling through the excitement until Christmas Day. They come down after and birthday balloons and banners go up.
It works for us, don't care if people think we are embodying scrooge, love Christmas, love birthdays, have the opportunity to decorate for both so do.

Mine will come down on the 28th/29th - DD(3yo)’s birthday is on NYE and nobody wants a party, she gets presents in Christmas paper, joint ‘Christmas and birthday’ presents.. my mums is the day before and she said she absolutely hates having a birthday so close to Christmas, nobody puts in the effort and it feels like your Getting a late Christmas present and your birthday is overlooked. - I don’t want DD to feel that way so Christmas ends a couple days before her birthday, then we celebrate her birthday and then new year Eve as separately as we can in the evening when she’s all birthday-d out.

Probably 27th here. I do not want to be reminded of Christmas in January. Its done. I want to get organised and tidied up for the New Year.

I'm in a theatre group and our annual panto is last weekend of Jan! Not Christmas-themed though, to be fair.

Boxing Day is for lounging in your PJs until a bowl of turkey soup, then a walk and a movie. Can’t imagine why you’d want be doing unnecessary chores.

Someone who knows what they are talking about 😉

Yeah this is the Christmas period for me.. 24th to 1st. The time I get at home relaxing with food, presents, films and twinkling lights.
But everyones different 🤷🏻‍♀️

It'll likely be 2nd Jan as go back to work on 3rd so would like to have the house back to normal by then, mainly because I won't have time to do any sorting once I'm back at work. However I will have my winter throws, candles etc to keep the house cosy until March.

My Christmas tree and light go away my fairy lights warm white will be used until middle March once it gets light seven o’clock no longer needed.

Well my tree and decorations are down, I've had a good dust and hoover and feel content that Christmas is done and now I can have a good clean through the house to go into the New Year all clean and tidy.

I think it's because people put their decorations / tree up so early nowadays...like early November onwards.

Personally for me, I put ours up first weekend in Dec and take them down just after new year, I like my tree to be up in the days between Xmas and new year as I feel like you can still justify the evenings of baileys and cheese & crackers then...!

I think it's a bit miserable people taking them down on Boxing Day but I can understand it if people are back to work or have had them up for weeks by that point.

New Years day is the cut off for me, I feel like starting the new year with a bit of a big clean and part of that is taking decs down. However I have before kept them up until 6th January which is the official date to take them down and it does feel a bit late.