Let's compromise and not be tacky
Jesse and I are locked in heated battle.
Over the Christmas tree.
You see, I follow the school of thought that says you put the tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving and take it down the weekend after New Years. I think that's pretty reasonable especially when you consider that I grew up in a house where the Christmas tree was always taken down the day after Christmas. In fact, I remember one year when our tree was out on the curb on Christmas Day.
Jesse follows the school of thought that says you put the tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving and then take it down never because you're just going to have to put it up next year again anyway.
Our difference of opinion led to a major clash this past weekend wherein I threatened to go to the basement and drag all the Christmas decoration boxes upstairs by myself thus sending myself into labor and then would have to go on bedrest and he would have to raise the kids all by himself for the next 12 weeks and I hoped he would be happy then.
Jesse was unmoved. He insisted that we do the tree next weekend. I insisted that we do it right that second. He asked if we couldn't compromise and do it next weekend.
Great, not only do I have to tell him why it's tacky to leave your Christmas tree up past New Years Day now I also have to explain what a compromise is.
As I write this the tree is still standing there in the living room, mocking me. I'm halfway considering dragging it over to the stairs and shoving it in the basement, light, ornaments and all. I love having the Christmas tree up during Christmas but now that the holidays have passed I hate it.
I'm not being unreasonable here right? I mean, I think we can all agree that people who leave their Christmas trees up past New Years Day deserve to die a thousand painful deaths. That's reasonable right? So back me up here people. Maybe if enough people help me nag Jesse he'll compromise and do things my way from now on.
One year ago today I pooped and the world laughed with me. (It's my most popular post ever.)
Four years ago today I made soup. Weeeeee!!!! Not my most popular post.
Jen
12 comments:
I loveloveloooove putting up my Christmas tree. And I want it up early. And I enjoy it every single moment until a few days after Christmas when I suddenly can't stand the decorations anymore because they now feel like so much clutter. New Year's Day is my absolute limit. But then I always have a real tree so by Christmas day it is usually looking pretty-well-dead. My hubby is the opposite and starts whining about taking the tree down as soon as we finish opening presents on Christmas morning. But I agree with you. New Year's should probably be the limit. :)
I don't want to die a thousand painful deaths just because our tree is still up. It's just so frickin cute listening to my kid (20 months old) say "Good morning, tree!" every morning. He's going to be so sad when we do finally take it down. (Plus, the tree is outside on the balcony and still lovely and green and not dropping needles everywhere...really it's just a decorated - very large - balcony plant at this point.)
My rule is that we absolutely DO NOT get a tree until the middle part of December. Also, I get really tired of it and like it down way before New Years. I kinda feel like that makes "tree time" more special and rare and less annoying. However, I have heard that you should keep your tree up until the epiphany (12th day of Christmas). How's that for a mixed message?
In German tradition, you put your Christmas tree up on Christmas Eve, and leave it up until Epiphany (traditionally the celebration of the Wise Men visiting Jesus).
In our house, we put it up the day after Thanksgiving, and take it down a couple of days after Christmas, so Ethan can celebrate a "normal" birthday on New Year's Eve without any Christmas in the house.
In my aunt's house? The tree is up ALL.YEAR.LONG. Seriously. She hasn't taken down her tree for at least 10-15 years now. Can you imagine????? Yeah. She's looney.
Um. My tree is still up.
Please don't come and kill me.
You are most certainly not being unreasonable!! We put the tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving, I was ready to take it down about 10 AM on Christmas morning.
But please, don't go into labor over the tree. Hire very expensive tree taker downer people. That will teach your husband.
another German traditionalist here chiming in for the tree to be up through the Epiphany/12th Day of Christmas (ie, Jan 6). Growing up we always put our (real) tree up on Christmas Eve and took it down the weekend after the Epiphany. Dunno how this compared to other families at the time. Meanwhile, my DH's mom puts the trees (multiple, fake) up the Friday after Thanksgiving and I'm pretty sure she has them down by the end of the year. She's vehemently anti-clutter (and a teacher so I also imagine she wants to return her house to "normal" before the school break ends). Fast fwd to adulthood and my own home/marriage... *our* compromise is that our real tree goes up on the 4th Sunday of Advent (unless this happens to be Xmas Eve, in which case the 3rd Sunday in Advent) and then stays up through the Epiphany (so really, the weekend after said Epiphany). However, I'd like to point out that I'm the principal tree putter upper, decorator and taker downer. Even last year when I was 7 mos. pregnant I'm the one who dragged that bad boy into the house (which may also explain why it fell down early on the 26th and then spent the rest of the time up in exile on the front porch, firmly wedged against a post for support, yet still visible from the kitchen table). And that this year the whole schedule was shot to hell by that now 9-mo old baby boy -- the tree went up on Christmas Eve Eve (the 23rd) and remains, um, simply decorated with two sizes of white lights, an angel topper, and the prettiest tree skirt I ever did see. And a ring of child gates. And my aim is to get it down and Christmas stowed away before his 1st birthday party........
The tree MUST go right after new Year's! I mean come on. It's over people, let it go. ;-)
My tree is still up.
Not because I think it should be up past New Years. I agree it should come down.
My tree is still up because I have to take it down myself, and I don't want to.
Also maybe because last year the day I took my tree down my sweet cat Anni decided to die. And I have a 21 year old cat teetering on the edge and I'd hate to think the tree could do him in like it did poor Anni.
Totally reasonable. I put my tree up Thanksgiving weekend and have even been known to pop in a CD of Christmas carols on Thanksgiving night. But by Dec. 26th I'm over it. Our tree is out the door by nightfall on the 26th. I like to start the new year with a clean, non-needle-strewn slate.
Jen... ahhh....come on...where is that Christmas spirit?? My son is used to having the tree go up the first weekend in December and comes down the last weekend in January (one year it was up till the second week of March, but there is another story behind that one). Christmas is the most joyous season...let the tree stay up.. you don't use the living room all that much anyway! I enjoy the decorating and I want to enjoy the results as long as possible. Also, it enables you to do holiday entertaining a little longer. So, please let my kid have his tree a little longer. Technically, he is compromising with taking it down next weekend. It is two weeks earlier than he is used to!! Love you all....... Judy
I got through four---FOUR---paragraphs before realizing it said JESSE and not JESUS. What wine?
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