Does anyone here wait until Christmas Eve to put their tree up?

[C.Ann]

I don't personally know anyone who does this - unless it's like a table-top tree - but I've seen it in Christmas movies and it got me to wondering if people really do that or not.. And if no one does it now, was it a common thing years and years ago when everyone had live trees, few lights, and few ornaments to hang?

Personally I could never do it - and I know DD and her family would never do it.. The tree is so big - so many lights to be strung - so many decorations to hang.. I think we would be too tired to celebrate Christmas the next morning..

 

[Abbie]

Not only do we decorate four full-sized trees on Christmas Eve (two artificial, two real) we have a huge, full-course brunch for family on Christmas morning!

We will usually set the trees up and do the lights a day or two early, but the actual decorating is done on the morning of Christmas Eve. Two of the trees just get red bows and "snow" but the two live ones get the tons of ornaments. We start out with the one in the family room, then when the kids (16 and 20...lost my oldest to marriage this summer!) get bored I send them with DH up to do "the kids" tree (i.e. ornaments that don't make the cut for the good tree! ) then I fix the family room tree to make it look the way I want. Yes I fully admit to being a control freak re: the tree! While this is going on, I'm constantly back and forth into the kitchen cooking the sausage and bacon and buns for the next morning and doing whatever I can ahead of time. Then after everything is all set, we go to an early movie, then pick up a feast of Chinese food and bring it home to eat around the tree, and usually turn on a movie. It always feels so special and magical to watch the twinkling lights when it hasn't been up for a month already!

Yes, it's crazy and hectic but I LOVE Christmas Eve!!

 

[golfgal]

We talked about doing this over the years as a nice tradition but we have all decided that it is fun having the tree up earlier. Now, we are going to Grandma and Grandpa's this year and won't get there until late on the 23rd so we will decorate the tree on Christmas Eve day.

Besides, it is kind of fun to watch the kids squirm on Christmas Eve with not a lot to occupy their time and anticipate Christmas morning and their presents.

 

[Freyja]

Most people around me here in Iceland do that. They don´t put their tree up until Christmas Eve (well on the 23rd, since we celebrate on the 24th). We used to have it that way too but in recent years I find myself too busy on Christmas Eve to want to be bothered with decorating the tree too. Therefore we usually put it up on the 22nd.

 

[pigletgirl]

Wow, I can't imagine waiting that long! But to each is own.

 

[Ppufi]

No no no! I love being able to look at the tree for a while before Christmas. What a waste to only have it up for a couple of days.

 

[gina2000]

I think it's a lovely tradition. We don't do it but when we used to get a real tree, we put it up the weekend before Christmas. We kept it up til Twelfth Night so it was up for a solid two weeks. Now we have an artificial tree and it goes up around the 12th or 13th...about a week earlier because life is just too hectic.

It seems in the US that many follow the tradition of department stores. Christmas is official over on 12/26 and it's time to rip down everything.

 

[disykat]

No no no! I love being able to look at the tree for a while before Christmas. What a waste to only have it up for a couple of days.

I'm sure it's up for more than a few days! "Christmas" lasts for twelve days.

We do put ours up earlier, but it always bothers me that everyone packs everything up and puts it all away like Christmas is over when, to me, Christmas is just beginning.

It always surprises me here when there all the "is your tree down yet?" threads start on Christmas Day.

 

[Ppufi]

To explain my thinking, we normally get our tree the first weekend (like today), and keep it up till the day before February.

 

[barkley]

this was the tradition in the home my mom grew up in, and the kids played no part in the decorating. when they woke up christmas morning santa had brought the fully decorated tree along with the gifts under it. as an adult she said this explained why there always ended up being one or two adult family members every christmas eve who mysteriously ended up feeling so under the weather they could'nt attend midnight mass, but had by some miracle recovered by the next morning (as a kid she was convinced it was because of the candles they were always instructed to light for them at the church before the service started).


we put ours up earlier in the week and will finish decorating this weekend. i enjoy the tree, and i enjoy my neighbor's trees allot more now that i live ruraly. normaly the lights in the front rooms of the homes out here are'nt nesc. lit up at night (family rooms tend to be in the back and that's where people spend their evenings) so it's a striking difference to drive down the dirt roads and see blasts of colors coming from front windows (it's also a visual cue at one point on the road that the power has'nt gone out-otherwise you can never realy tell until you get much further down where one of the homeowners has an outdoor light that they actualy turn on each evening).

 

[Ohiodislover]

We did that last year. I had a terrible month at work, and we had to go out of town for a family wedding the weekend before Christmas. I was sooo worn out that I literally canceled Christmas, and just planned on giving the girls $$, and making a nice meal.

My family surprised me and had the house decorated when I got home. Looked like crap (just a little), but it was great.

 

[happygirl]

When I was a child my grandparents would wait to Christmas Eve so the grandkids could help with it

 

[laurafergie]

My grandparents NEVER put the tree up or decorated their house until Christmas Eve. The whole family would troop over and go cut the tree down (this was on a farm) then put the tree up and decorate the entire lower floor of the house - this was quite a large house.

All the presents, however, were only put under the tree when all the kids had gone to bed. So when we woke the next morning it was very obvious Santa had come!

It was a time of fellowship and made many wonderful memories during my childhood. It truly made Christmas magical. (now when I became an adult, the work involved to make this happen wasn't quite so magical - but as a kid it was great!)

My grandparents have passed now, and everyone is too busy with their own lives, myself included to do anything like this anymore. Too bad.

 

[Mickey527]

When I was growing up we always got our tree on Christmas Eve and Santa did all the decorating.
Once I was old enough my mom told me that having 6 kids money was tight and the trees were marked down to $1 on Christmas Eve instead of the $10 they normally cost. We went to bed and poor dad had to put on the lights and decorate while mom wrapped all the gifts.
We also only got 2 toys each, not like it is today. I can't imagine what kids would say now to only 2 gifts each. And relatives gave clothes, because Santa brought the toys and he decided we should get 2 each and that was enough.
I never felt shorted though, we played outside all summer and winter with all the nieghborhood kids. We went outside after breakfast and came home in time for dinner. Never had play dates! Our toys were a waste, it was more fun to play 4 square in the middle of the road (my dad painted a 4 squre in the road) or hide and seek.

 

[dollydell]

When my Mom was a little girl that was how it went. She was told that Santa brought the tree, and her parents got the tree and decorated it all after she and her brother and sister went to bed on Christmas Eve. Once they got older they helped my grandparents, but it was always still put up on Christmas Eve.

We put it up the first weekend or two in December when I was little and now it is either Thanksgiving weekend or the first weekend in December.

 

[C.Ann]

Well for the ones who do - or did - it really does sound fun - and I can just imagine the looks on the little ones faces on Christmas morning!

Someone mentioned something about posts on the 26th asking if your tree is down yet.. When I was married to my first DH, we lived in another city for awhile.. We had a 3rd floor apartment at the time and one Christmas morning - at 9 a.m. - I heard all this racket outside.. Looked out the window and the neighbor on the first floor was putting their Christmas tree out for the trash man already.. Now that's what I call "not wasting any time".. LOL..

 

[Freyja]

Well for the ones who do - or did - it really does sound fun - and I can just imagine the looks on the little ones faces on Christmas morning!

Someone mentioned something about posts on the 26th asking if your tree is down yet.. When I was married to my first DH, we lived in another city for awhile.. We had a 3rd floor apartment at the time and one Christmas morning - at 9 a.m. - I heard all this racket outside.. Looked out the window and the neighbor on the first floor was putting their Christmas tree out for the trash man already.. Now that's what I call "not wasting any time".. LOL..

Wow, that´s early

We always keep our up until January 6th

 

[Diznygrl]

I could never do it. I can barely resist the urge to wait until Thanksgiving is over to put up my beautiful tree the way it is! It's also a lot of work to put up, and I want to enjoy it all month long. We also wait until January 6th to take it down.

 

[Hayley2098]

When I was growing up we always got our tree on Christmas Eve and Santa did all the decorating.
Once I was old enough my mom told me that having 6 kids money was tight and the trees were marked down to $1 on Christmas Eve instead of the $10 they normally cost. We went to bed and poor dad had to put on the lights and decorate while mom wrapped all the gifts.
We also only got 2 toys each, not like it is today. I can't imagine what kids would say now to only 2 gifts each. And relatives gave clothes, because Santa brought the toys and he decided we should get 2 each and that was enough.
I never felt shorted though, we played outside all summer and winter with all the nieghborhood kids. We went outside after breakfast and came home in time for dinner. Never had play dates! Our toys were a waste, it was more fun to play 4 square in the middle of the road (my dad painted a 4 squre in the road) or hide and seek.

My mom Has cancer & she's 55. She feels the same way!

I hope your doing good! good luck!

 

[SunFloridaDisney]

When I was a kid Santa always brought the tree on about the 22nd or 23rd, he was "checking up on us" my parents said. And like other posters, with the tree going up right near the actual date, we always kept it up until 12th night.

Seems like back then we didn't celebrate until the actual day of Christmas eve, but then the parties and things went on all the next week, through new year's and until first week of January. These days it has shifted to the "thanksgiving to Christmas" time period.

(In my house - we don't have our tree up yet this year - been too busy!)