POLL::when do you put your tree up, take it down...and why that schedule

[NEVE and TRISTAN]

I was just curious...in DC we put ours up around the 16th of DEC...here in this area I think everyone puts theirs up the weeke-end of Thanksgiving BUT they take them down instantly after the holidays here. I've yet to decide my schedule...I actually bought an artificial 12ft tree on clearance on Christmas Eve and it is so darn heavy I'm just wondering what my "schedule" should be.

I decorated minimally with greens cut from a vacant lot next door this year, I threw some on a copper pot on the mantal and we found a baby preying mantis in the house yesterday and assume it was a sweet sign of christmas (a baby...preying...cute), then late last night at about 11:00PM we found about 500 preying mantis in the house hatched we are certain from those cuttings...Needless to say we stressed for HOURS cleaning each and every baby preying mantis up to safely put outside (where I am certain they died anyway)...but the sweetness of the first developed into massive stress over the other :)...
Neve
AKA "mama2be"-forgot password
and Baby Boy Tristan born @UNC
Feb 25, 2003
Brother to 3 pups "gees" and 2 kitties

[brigmaman]

As much as I dislike bugs in general, I loved your preying mantis story! We had a similar situation a few years ago with a ladybug. I have heard that ladybugs are good luck. So when we found one on our bedroom curtains, instead of vacuuming it up as I do most other creepy-crawlies, I just left it. Well a day went by and we too had a mass of unwanted lady-guests! Ugh! What a pain just for being sensitive/supersticious! Lol! :)
Anyway, to get back to the poll, we also put up our tree a few weeks before Christmas. We usually take it down when it really dries out, usually about a week after Christmas. We are on a teaching schedule, so the time we take it down and pack up Christmas, is also when we (now just dh) get ready to go back to school.

[khakismom]

Neve, Merry Christmas! Hope you had a wonderful holiday! What did Tristan think of his first Christmas? :) I'm sure Santa was very good to him!

So funny you asked this because after all the trouble we had with our live tree this year, we are taking it down tomorrow. Normally we put it up around the 2nd week of December and take it down New Year's Day or the last week of December. Around here too, all the tress seem to appear around Thanksgiving. And we've always had a real tree. After this year's fiasco and the fact there are tons of needles EVERYWHERE, the tree is coming down tomorrow, and then we are going out a purchasing a big, beautiful fake! :D

[AngelaS]

We usually put up our tree somewhere around the 15th and it's down by New Years. My MIL on the other hand doesn't start UNdecorating her house until the end of JANUARY! Last year when we went there in early February, my 5yo asked, "why does Grandma STILL have her tree up???" ROTFL!

Your bug story is great! You're much kinder than I, I probably would've grabbed the vacuum... :D

[Calmegja2]

We usually put up our tree around the 10th of December, and take it down January 1st. This year, though, the tree is coming down after this weekend. Joshua and Megan have redecorated it so many times that I am in fear I will have no ornaments left soon.....

The mantis story is sweet. I can just imagine you carrying them all out to safety.....

[gour0]

If you buy your tree on the 23rd, you get a very good bargain! :) We paid $5! We decorated on the 24th and will probably leave it up until January 8th (my birthday). I don't know if we will ever have a schedule, but it will never be Thanksgiving! (although, I did cut a little Charlie Brown tree from the yard on thanksgiving)

[flagger]

We put up our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving and usually leave it up until New Year's Day. Because of our impending move, we will be taking it down this weekend.

[houseof3boys]

We put our live tree up the second week in December and will probably take it down Dec 30th or so. We have some guests coming in tomorrow and I just don't have the energy to get everything put away before they get here. I like to look at the lighted tree anyway. DH will take the lights down and the stuff in the yard at the same time. His pet peeve are people that leave their lights up WAY past the holidays....bad luck according to him.

I think we may search for a fake tree on clearance though. None were left at our Target this morning so I may hit Frontgate since they have such nice trees in the catalog and they have their one and only store in Atlanta (I think this is still the case)!

I'm sorry about the buggies....sounds awful!!!

[jd11365]

We actually take it down Christmas day...can you believe???! My DH likes to get things back to normal pretty quickly. Next year though I made him promise to leave it up until Jan 1st.

Jamie
Mommy to Kayla
5-1-03

[COElizabeth]

Like Stacey, I have an early January birthday and have never let the tree come down until after my birthday. Also, the night before it comes down, I *have* to look long and hard at that year's tree and make sure it's the last thing I do before I go upstairs to bed! :)

Elizabeth, Mom to James, 9-20-02

[lukkykatt]

Growing up, we used to put up our tree on Christmas Eve and then Santa would visit while we were doing so. I always loved that tradition, but my older son's birthday is so close to Christmas that now I put up the tree in early December in an attempt to separate Christmas from his birthday a little. We leave it up until the weekend after New Year's.

Great Preying Mantis story! You are such a trooper - for some reason they totally creep me out and I can barely bring myself to look at them! Once I came up to my car and there was one on the tire. I was in a panic - I couldn't drive away with it on the tire but I couldn't bring myself to touch it. Finally, I grabbed a passer-by and got him to take it off!

[Momof3Labs]

Ewww - bugs!

We put the (artificial) tree up over T'giving weekend (because I have a nice long weekend off of work to do it) and take it down around New Year's Day. This year I'll probably take it down 12/31-1/1 since DH is working a 48 hour shift. I might as well accomplish something while he is gone!

[amp]

We generally follow the schedule that my family followed when I was growing up, but it does vary based on how motivated I can make DH to help me. We try to put the tree up shortly after Thanksgiving and take it down around New Years. I love seeing the decorations before Christmas because I get into the spirit. I find it depressing to have them up after the holiday and am anxious to just get it over with and get my house back to normal.

[pamela mom of 3]

LOL about the mantis, we have a few around here in the summer{outside of coarse ;)..neat creature}

Anyhoo Tree wise, this year we went for real in a desperate attempt to keep the kids from touching it. It was cut down and brought home the 30th of nov, i see from others this is early however in the past i always put my fake trees up a month before xmas...

My dh keep saying he can see through it more and needles are everywhere soooo i'm thinking next week sometime she will go, maybe new years day?

My 5yo wants it left so i need to go about this gently :D





http://pages.ivillage.com/cl-pamelamomof3

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[KUvsOU]

We usually put up the tree the day after Thanksgiving. This year I didn't decorate the bottom 1/3rd of the tree as I didn't think DS could resist it despite the baby gate. The baby gate did not go around it all the way so we tried to fix it so it would be difficult for him to move the gate. However, he is starting to figure it out, which is fine. We usually take the tree down sometime after Christmas, but before New Year's Day.

Shawna
Mom of Cade 6/16/02

[starrynight]

Our tree always goes up Thanksgiving weekend, and it's always a fake one. I hate the mess of real ones! Anyway um my tree came down tonight, yup folks one day after xmas. I'm not a scrooge really! It's just this was the only weekend dh will have off for awhile and with a toddler, newborn and older kid there is no way I could do it all myself without someone to occupy the indians ;). I have so many decorations plus ornaments lights etc.

Growing up the tree went up xmas eve and came down Jan. 6th. Dh's family always did it thanksgiving weekend. I like it up thanksgiving weekend because we get to enjoy it longer :). When the kids are a bit older and haven't trashed the tree by now I will probably keep it up until Jan. 1st.

[hwin708]

My schedule has pretty much been the same for as long as I can remember. Up the second week of December - we buy from my old school, which always has a tree sale on the second weekend of December, and always sells out within a few hours.
It goes down mid-December - can't remember the exact date, but in Louisiana, there is a certain day (the newspaper will at some point tell me when) where you are supposed to put your trees out for the garbagemen to collect and use to help build up the deteriorating swamplands. This is pretty much the day you see everyone's tree outside, because any other day the garbagemen tend not to pick them up.

[jojo2324]

Ideally, we would like to have the tree up by the second week of December, and then we take it down New Year's Day. Our tree this year went up 5 days before Xmas, and the taking down bit still remains to be seen. :)