When Do You Decorate for the Holidays?by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 22 Nov 2008 10:14 AM
Traditionally, we usually wait until the middle of December to begin the holiday decorating. Maybe, if we are not traveling or having guests for Thanksgiving, we may take part of that weekend to decorate. But never have I felt compelled to start earlier as I do this year. Is my compulsion a result of the snow outside or the fact that the Christmas season has been present in the retail stores for months? Could it be that the local radio stations started playing Christmas music last week or that the town has a lit Christmas tree up and is already sold out on its Christmas train? Could it be that Christmas-themed movies, such as Deck the Halls and Alvin and the Chipmunks have been playing almost nonstop on cable TV? There is such a rush, and I am afraid that I might be caught up in it. A compromise might be to take down the fall decorations but not put up the Christmas ones yet, but I am afraid that the gap might be sad looking. And as my husband says, we still haven't put up the Thanksgiving turkeys that the kids made. Perhaps I could just get out snowmen out. After all, there is snow on the ground. That wouldn't be too much, would it? When do you decorate? Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog and caring for little ones in the Baby Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here. Related Articles: The Upside-Down Christmas Tree Fall and Holiday Decorating with Nature Frugal Winter Wonderland: Ice Candles Shop in Season to Save on Produce: Winter Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevanthome tags family | children | ideas | Kids | weight loss | holidays | parenting | relationships | baby | christmas User Comments  drnewmom (307) 22 Nov 2008 04:14 PMI'm not a big decorator, but I really don't want to see or hear anything about Christmas until AFTER Thanksgiving! I can see putting your outside decorations up earlier (I live in the snowbelt), but I'd keep my lights off until after turkey day. I was floored when I hear the local radio station broadcasting Christmas tunes a week or two ago--I mean, come on, let's allow another holday to pass before jumping into Christmas!  Kara (21390) 22 Nov 2008 04:49 PMI wanted to put up my tree October 1st. It's not up yet....because I need help. I dont need any other things up though. I could do without the rest but I do enjoy it. mrmnmom82 (3365) 23 Nov 2008 09:42 AMWe usually decorate after Thanksgiving, but not too far into Dec. We put up our outside lights allready, because we are expecting twins, and my hubby won't really get a chance to put them up later. We haven't put up our tree yet, we wait until after Thanksgiving for that especially.  Mary Ann Romans (26886) 23 Nov 2008 09:45 AMI did take down the pumpkins and put up some snow people! Samual (11722) 23 Nov 2008 12:57 PMWe decorate a week before christmas and take them down a week after, we celebrate the solstice not actual christmas so ours are normally down by new year. Samual (11722) 24 Nov 2008 01:49 AMOurs are, there are really so called rules about it, most people just stick to natural decorations, so we always have a living tree and plain decorations on it and things like berries. The main difference is just the lack of christmas themed decorations, like with actual images of Santa on. Mary Ann Romans (26886) 24 Nov 2008 10:55 AMI bet it must be pretty. I love decorating with berries and pine cones. Some would argue that Santa isn't Christmas themes :) Samual (11722) 24 Nov 2008 11:21 AMBut anyone decorating for christmas apart from having a nativity, aren't celebrating the christian christmas anyway. Mary Ann Romans (26886) 26 Nov 2008 05:51 AMI think that there are many traditions for celebrating Christmas and they all usually have meaning for those who celebrate. The candy cane for example represents Jesus and the blood of the lamb. Heidi (5269) 26 Nov 2008 02:44 PMAlso, the tradition of hanging lights is a Christian tradition from the early days of the church when persecution was common. Christians would place lights in their windows as a way of signaling other believers who were traveling, that their home was a safe place to stop along their journey jonesx6 (1606) 26 Nov 2008 02:44 PMJumping in a few days late here. We are going to decorate this weekend. I like to get it done now so we can enjoy the tree and decorations. Laura Kara (21390) 28 Nov 2008 09:38 AMI finally got my tree up yesterday. My parents helped my dh do it and my 2 year old got involved too with the non breakable ornaments! Mary Ann Romans (26886) 29 Nov 2008 05:34 PMAt the moment we still have a naked tree. Every time we set to do it, there is something that comes up. Hopefully we can get to it tomorrow! Community Tags christmas, Christmas tree, holiday decorating, holidays, home Discuss this article
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