How long does your Christmas last?

[troubleanstrife]

I know, it’s August, but inspired by another thread!

Just wondering when your Christmas celebrations start and end?

I realise it will depend on annual leave and many people work over Christmas - if so, do you ever celebrate on a different days instead?

For our family, it starts at 5pm on Christmas eve, and finishes on the 28th, when the family visits stop.

I do usually take annual leave until January and the tree comes down on the 6th, but I count 29th - 6th as post-Christmas period.

As long as possible! I aim to have finished the organising by December so I can enjoy all the festivities with MiniFool, and it ends on Twelfth Night.

I don't "do" Christmas, so about an hour? Thank goodness!

Tree is up 1st December, we eat mince pies and drink mulled wine while dressing the tree and then watch Elf afterwards. Then it's light switch ons, carols, baking and indulging in front of the fire for the rest of December. Christmas Day is usually a let down because I always enjoy the build up more. And I work in care so I don't usually get much time off over Christmas, that's probably why the build up is always better for me. Then the tree comes down on the 2nd Jan, by then I've had enough. 😂

Haha my heart always sinks when the in-laws book us in from August and then complain about the burden of it all for the next 4 months!

We start on Dec 1st and finish on the 28th , tree comes down on the 30th or 31st so everything is clean and ready for the NY .

Love this answer. This is how i feel 100 percent. I sat there nodding away reading this.

My son's birthday is Christmas Eve so we usually celebrate that and then start christmasy things at about 5pm. We have Christmas day and then husband is usually back in work on boxing Day so that's a normal day for us

We are kind of old fashioned about Christmas so we enjoy the autumn vibe up until the end of November then in advent we do prep for Christmas. We do an advent calendar or Candle, shopping, cards, wrapping, we do put put tree up sometime around 2 weeks before Christmas Day but Christmas proper doesn't really begin for us until the 23rd so we don't really eat mince pies or Christmas food until close to Christmas Eve although I do listen to Christmas music in December.

I do love Christmas Eve as it is so magical and Christmas Day is lovely but hectic. As I have got older what I really love is the period just after Christmas Day through to the early new year. For us the period between Christmas Day and the 6th is the true Christmas, so we take our holidays so we can relax and really enjoy it with lots of reading, movies, walks, jigsaws, games, ballet, panto etc. We usually have a 12th night celebration and take our tree down on the 7th (as Catholic tradition dictates).

As per a pp above we do leave the crib till Candlemas with a few wintery decorations and some lights to soften the bleak look when the tree comes down.

I do find it odd when peoples Christmas is over by the 26th or 27th when it has really only just begun and sad to see all the trees and decorations down so quickly. I do think it is people synchronising to retail patterns for example especially in the US where people are already decorating for Fall / Halloween (see YouTube) and shops are full of Halloween stuff and by September it will be Christmas stuff so it feels like we are always ahead of ourselves and never quite in sync with Nature or old traditions. However I am fully aware that many people don't care about any of that and enjoy things as they do them which is totally fine and none of my business!

One thing I would like to do is start buying my Christmas shopping a bit earlier in the year, we don't spend lots on gifts but shopping is not my favourite thing and it would be good to spread the work over a longer period and feel more organised.

Similar here - most of the events are during December and then after Christmas Day I like to get everything cleaned and tidy ready to start a fresh for the NY.

My employers close completely from midday of the working day before Christmas Eve and we then go back on 2 Jan. This doesn't come out of our leave, so no one has to save leave to have a proper break. It's one of the best perks I've ever had in my working life.

So my Christmas lasts pretty much all of that. The decorations are up till 6 Jan.

Ooh loads of lovely answers, I love hearing about other people’s Christmasses!

Lovely to hear that so many people stretch it over several days. I read threads on mumsnet where people fall out about what happens on Christmas day, who goes where, who cooks, what time they get up etc, and for me I think it’s such a shame to fall out over one day. Okay the food and the gifts are often on the 25th, but there is so much more to Christmas celebrations that can be enjoyed on other days, it’s better not to load all expectations onto one day, I think.

5 weeks really, 1st December to 6th January.

@Ladymama12 so glad you agree! I bet you keep the bowl of Celebrations/Roses well topped up too ☺️

Hmmmm... well I start basic prep like gift lists in August. I love the build up. Our tree goes up nearest weekend to December 1st - I often feel the Christmas period has begun when we are still in November. I'm a teacher with school age children so the 2 week holiday is the actual Christmas period for us. But we do Christmas activities throughout December. It's over on New Years Day.

Prep starts waaaay in advance lol We start doing festive things at the beginning of December and run through to New Year, then have a theatre & sale shopping day before the DC go back to school to finish off the school hols.

Actual Christmas for us is a 3 day celebration, we have our big family meal on Christmas Eve, have a chilled Christmas Day with the DC and usually have another big meal with extended family on Boxing Day. I take down most of the decorations on 27th but leave the tree & lights up until NYE.

Christmas Eve - Boxing Day then I go back to work

It depends on whether we are travelling "down home" or staying in our own house.

Staying at home, I need to go into work for an hour on Christmas Eve morning (or lose a day's leave - senior mgmt expected to come in if possible and it suits us). But effectively I finish the previous day and it's meeting people for Irish coffees and mince pies before getting any last minute bits on the major shopping street very close by. Celebrations keep going at various levels from then, including a later trip down home to see extended family and getting home usually by 2nd Jan. de-decorate on 3rd and sort the house before going back to work on whatever the next Monday is as I usually have a lot of leave and take time to sort the house etc once celebrations done.

If travelling for Christmas, we go down on 24th so I properly finish on 23rd or sometimes even 22nd. We usually come back around 27th and have a few quiet days at home but may end up de-decorating before NYE and get started on the normalisation at that stage.

Both DH and I bring our computers with us when travelling as, even though we're both off, it's not unusual for something to come up and we need to deal with it (different public sector roles). But we take the opportunity for a proper 2 week break as it's much needed!

Starts Christmas Eve with Carols from King’s. Ends 6th Jan, when tree and all decs come down. Apart from Chr. Eve, my favourite part is 26th to 1st Jan, though.

Tree usually goes up first weekend of December. We do Santa/Christmassy stuff over the weekends or the first week of the school holidays. The rest sort of depends on how annual leave falls but this year I’ll finish on 20th and go back on 4 January.

All of December here, we put our tree up on 1st and enjoy many festivities over the weekends. Due to the dates this year I'll have longer off for actual Christmas as I'll finish on the 22nd and will only work 27th & 29th then off again for NY. Sons birthday 28th and he likes to keep the decorations up so usually come down after new year. We have a nice family party (me, husband, 7 & 3 year old) for new year so just a really nice time at home enjoying each others company and playing together. Our absolute favourite time of the year!

Depends really as to what the plans are or what time we decide to close for xmas.

If xmas is early week we close the weekend before and re open 2nd.

We have lapland uk booked early Dec and usually things every weekend through dec too, like panto, santa visits, Christmas kids parties.
Xmas eve is normally a long walk, home baths, take away, film.
Xmas day pub dinner or with family
Boxing day huge family get together around 18 of us.
27th see the rest of the family.
Then tree down because by then i need space back to sort the toys, chill time with the dcs over a few days before NY celebration and re opening

But tree goes up on 1st.sometimes sooner if i have time.

Starts on 1st finished on 6th Jan.

"The Season" starts when the tree goes up (first weekend December) but Christmas proper starts on Christmas Eve and runs till New Year's Eve. Then I'm done and the tree comes down soon after.

I sometimes call the days between Boxing Day and NYE "twixtmas" but have recently enjoyed annoying my family by calling it the Merryneum.