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Original poster

Anyone else feel a little bit emotional when they take the decorations down?

84 replies

IwtHs · 03/01/2023 08:17

I always do.

I think I've felt it more so this year as my eldest is at an age where by next year they will be less of a child and more of a teenager. I remember watching that McDonald's Christmas ad a few years back ( forever young song) and thinking soon that will be how my eldest will act.
This year they quickly threw some tinsel on the tree then picked up their phone to go call their friend.

Also, I don't like the uncertainty of what the year can bring. As I'm getting older, more people I know are passing away. 2021 I lost 3 people and 2022 I lost 4. Not all family but people I knew and talked to.

Anyone else get this feeling?

OP posts:
JazzyGsMummy · 03/01/2023 10:47

My daughter's birthday is new years eve and I put all her cards on the tree the night before and her birthday presents go under it.

Anyone else feel a little bit emotional when they take the decorations down?
TangledWebOfDeception · 03/01/2023 10:58

@JazzyGsMummy I love that! What a great idea to make her birthday special.

ThanksItHasPockets · 03/01/2023 11:00

I know what you mean, OP. I have been gradually taking down the decorations so that it doesn’t feel like a shock, and I have replaced with some plain white twinkly lights and candles so that we don’t lose the cosiness. I have also been spending as much time as possible outside and saw some snowdrop shoots starting to poke through yesterday, which is a lovely hopeful sign. I will also start buying daffodils as soon as they appear in the supermarkets!

BarrelOfOtters · 03/01/2023 11:03

I left the fairly lights up round the mantlepiece last year and they are staying another year....probably need a dust. But it just seems less bleak doing that.

TheUndisclosedtruthOfMotherhood · 03/01/2023 11:06

Must confess I'm a bit down to.
Need lighter nights and some of rhat Mediterranean heat. Spain was 24 degrees on New Years Eve.

AliasGrape · 03/01/2023 11:06

Yes I do. I was really ready for them to come down this year and we didn’t have any other chance to get it done so we did it yesterday rather than wait for 12th night as I usually do. It also coincided with our guest going home.

I felt really teary and sad all day. It doesn’t help that it’s been a rather stressful and up and down Christmas which I had been so looking forward to but I feel a bit sad about how certain things went and almost as if I wish I could have a do-over. I don’t know why really as objectively we had a lovely time and there was so much to enjoy - but illness and a few tensions crept in and I feel I spoiled it for myself a bit by letting stuff get the better of me.

I lost my mum at Christmas ten years ago. I always remember her and have moments of sadness at Christmas (and the first few years were awful), but for the last few years I’ve still managed to enjoy the celebrations and particularly now I have my DD. This year it hit me full force again, and taking the decorations down - so many of which were hers or remind me of times with her - is emotional for that reason too.

Plus my period started, so hormones probably a big part of it!

I’m a little blue but far more balanced today, and I bought a few bunches of flowers to cheer the room up a bit.

JesusMaryAndJosephAndTheWeeDon · 03/01/2023 11:22

It isn't 12th night yet, leave them up!

10HailMarys · 03/01/2023 11:22

I don't get emotional or sad about taking the decorations down (we only really have a tree and a garland on the mantelpiece) but new year in general always makes me feel incredibly bleak and maudlin for some reason.

bobdylannumber1 · 03/01/2023 15:42

Yes I always feel very sad and emotional taking down the decorations and I always wonder if we will all be here when I next put them up. I hate January and hate going back to work.

FusionChefGeoff · 03/01/2023 15:45

I was doing joke crying that Xmas was over with the kids then caught totally unawares by real tears with DH as we definitely hit 'peak Christmas' this year with 2 believers age 8 and 10 and my brothers littlies age 2.5 and 9 months AND my parents. Everyone was in such good spirits the whole time it was like something out of the movies!

Next year and beyond will be incrementally slightly worse and I'm gutted as I LOVE Christmas

Arushofbloodtothehead · 03/01/2023 15:50

I usually hate it because DH has to go back to work which is away from home. This year he isnt working away any more and I feel so much better knowing that when Christmas is over this year, he will still be here.

longtompot · 03/01/2023 15:54

I never look forward to taking the tree and decorations down but I do enjoy the sense of space when they are down. I do, however, have a string of fairy lights over our mantle shelf so that keeps a bit of sparkle on dreary evenings, and tea light holders. I'll also do the same in the kitchen this year.
I've had a found branch hung up in the window this year, which I have decorated with lights (they also go around the room) and some decorations hung off it. I'd like to keep a bit of sparkle for the evening, and so I don't need to turn on the big light when I go in there.

Hedjwitch · 03/01/2023 15:55

Its a depressing time of year for many,me included. Have left fairy lights on the mantelpiece and in the hall, and looking forward to spring. There are green shoots in the garden already and tiny buds on the trees.
This too will pass.

asblindasabat · 03/01/2023 15:56

I feel a bit meh about it as they brighten the place up a bit but I wouldn’t say I feel emotional. In a way I’m kind of glad they are down as I was sick looking at them this Christmas. That said, I don’t think I was really in the mood for Christmas this year as I have been under a lot of stress the last few months.

I might buy something that is non-Christmas related to put wee fairy lights around to brighten the place a bit.

Lndnmummy · 03/01/2023 15:56

I absolutely feel this. I always wonder if all my family will be around still. I do keep the cosy going with fairy lights, candles, and fresh flowers.

TheYearOfSmallThings · 03/01/2023 16:00

Yes, I hate taking them down, but I do enjoy the space and clear surfaces, and always get a big bunch of tulips and put out white candles.

This year we were all sick as dogs throughout Christmas and although we staggered through and spent time together (probably why we're all sick), it wasn't the usual Christmas at all, so I feel extra flat packing everything away.

LillianGish · 03/01/2023 19:14

It's good to take them down when you have a bit of time so you can put on some music and enjoying packing them all away in tissue paper ready for next year. I always like to leave mine up until 12th night if possible - we are in France where Epiphany is really a thing. All the bakeries are now full of gallette des rois - frangipane tarts to celebrate the arrival of the three kings - which people enjoy at home and also in the office, with a crown for whoever finds the little charm that is hidden inside. Candlemas is also a thing here with lots of pancake making when the time comes. I think it helps to spread the festive feeling, rather than everything grinding to a sudden halt and it moves things forwards in a positive way. I always leave a string of lights up and light lots of candles to get me through the dark nights - with a pot of bulbs on the table to remind me spring is on its way.

SaturnSpark · 03/01/2023 22:31

Yes, I definitely get what you mean. 2022 was a strange year for me so I think that’s why I’m feeling extra emotional.

I took mine down today and the room looks so empty! I try to combat the bleakness of leaving the Christmas period by reminding myself of the exciting things to look forward to in the coming months. Even small things like meals out!

I also find buying festive items in prep for next Christmas in the January sales helps too!! 💐

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 04/01/2023 14:41

Yes, I always feel sad when getting rid of the tree - our real one still looks beautiful - the house looks so bare with all the decorations gone.

I’m always over it in a week or 10 days, though - around here at least (SE) there are usually the first signs of spring - snowdrops, and even an early daffodil or two.
For the last 2 or 3 years I’ve left warm white lights up in a huge house plant, though, more of a mini tree. Better than nothing.

I can’t help wondering about the coming year, though - have a horrible feeling that this Christmas will have been the last for one relative, but 🤞.

MooseAndSquirrelLoveFlannel · 04/01/2023 18:23

We took our tree down earlier than usual as our kitten (who is 9 months old and weighs 4.5kg!) kept climbing it and wrecking it, so it was a relief to get it down.

NYE was really good, we played games with the kids and watched Star wars. Watched the fireworks in London and suddenly I just burst into tears, like really ugly sobbing. I had this sudden fear that firstly I had just entered the first year without my sister in it for the first time in my life (she died suddenly in Jan 2022) and also very aware our financial situation is about to change for the worst courtesy of a mortgage increase and I'm terrified of how we will manage. So it all just felt so bleak.

goldismything · 04/01/2023 18:44

Love seeing them up and equally love seeing them go.

Like grandchildren really 😂😂

PlaitBilledDuckyPuss · 04/01/2023 18:47

No; I have them up for about two weeks starting the week before Christmas, and that's enough for me.

LadyEloise1 · 04/01/2023 19:03

I just wonder what the coming year will bring. Will we be ok, still healthy and all still alive.
I'm a worrier Smile

iknowwheretheothersockgoes · 04/01/2023 19:43

Definitely not. I feel a huge amount of relief when they are down.

pompomdaisy · 04/01/2023 20:00

Emotional with happiness. By the time we get to this stage I'm so over Xmas!