The Christmas decoration police
I know I can’t be alone in this. I happen to have a body-shuddering aversion to seeing Christmas decorations after Christmas.
It’s over, people. Move on.
Trees go to treecycling. Wreaths come off the door. All the mantel greenery and lawn reindeer and empty stockings–out.
My deadline happens to be today, but if that’s inconvenient for some of you, go ahead and take your time through Saturday. But once New Year’s Eve hits, you’d better be out of Christmas mode and into 2007, or your whole heart and soul will experience nothing but confusion and discomfort for the next twelve months, until it’s time to do this right again next year.
So do yourself a favor. Don’t make me send the Christmas decoration police to come knocking on your door. There are rules here–laws. To everything (turn, turn, turn) there is a season (turn, turn, turn).
And besides, you have work to do for New Year’s. More to come on that . . .
Technorati Tags: Christmas Decorations, Christmas Season
My best friend and I feel the same way about those damn political signs and posters that linger for WEEKS after the election. In fact, we’ve decided that there should be a law that states that if your signs are not down within 36 hours of the election, you automatically forfeit.
It’s been a tradition in my household to leave the Christmas decor out until January 6th,which is the Epiphany(the day the Magi came to give baby Jesus his gifts)and my dad’s birthday. We sort of still hold to that.
Any longer than that is too much-I’ve seen homes that still have their outdoor lights out in March,for goodness sake!
Lady T, I took your case to the special Christmas Decoration Court, and they’ve agreed to make an exception, just for you. January 6th it is.
If the lights are white/clear, you can leave them up year round. Now they become New Year lights. Soon Valentine day lights. And what about Olive Garden, they NEVER takes those down and always have at least 1 that is out.
And shouldn’t you leave the multi-colored up until April when He is risen again? Or until the Great Dradle stops spinning? Or something along those lines? Can you take them down for Lent?
The longest I can stand to leave decorations up is New Year’s Day. Though, it seems every year I take them down earlier and earlier. I suspect tomorrow will be the day they come down, I’m ready to have my house back in order.
I do, however like Lady T’s reasoning for leaving them up just a bit longer;-)
Kimmy, thank you for being as intolerant as I am. Feels good.
Patrick, you are correct: there is such a thing as permalights, but they must be white or clear, and the leaves and vines must eventually grow over them and create a fire hazard. Very festive!
Tradition in this general region is that things come down on New Year’s Day, so stuff is up for the round of partying during the week between Christmas and New Years.
Personally, I’ve gotten so bah humbug about Christmas it takes me five minutes to de-Christmas my house.
tackiness, thy name is christmas decor. i so can’t stand having that s*** in my house. so of course the fates willed that i marry a man who loves to strew the place with mismatched lights, wreaths, garlands–most of which were selected, with daddy’s prompting, by children between the ages of 3 and 10 at whatever random locale they might have been (ie walgreens, ace hardware, the gas station) when something beautiful caught their eye (ie singing reindeer, flashing candy canes and giant advent window “candles”, which our youngest, confusing with a menorah, stated were perfect for a family like us that liked jesus, but not that much )–you get the picture. worst part is the resident grinch (that would be me) gets stuck with taking everything down to avoid it simply blowing away over time or being dismantled over time by the dog. i have noticed however that as the children have gotten older the attrition rate of these priceless treasures has increased exponentially–bad grinch!
Yeah, yeah… I’ll get to it.
I’m still trying to get the house completely in order from having moved this past September. I’m going to be verra busy the next few days. I need to clear the clutter so I can focus on more important tasks, like family and writing. Wish me luck.
(And I would prefer Merry Maids over the Christmas decoration police.)
We make epiphany arguments around here as well, especially given the large Greek population in town. The Epiphany celebration is HUGE.