who hates holiday decorations?

[mommaof3boz]

The title says it all. I DO NOT LIKE holiday decor. Yes I put it up, only for my boys. A tree, stockings and a christmas village. I SO do not want to put the village up anymore. I got it when they were little and loved to look at it all lite up. Now, ugh. I am going to see if they will consent to tree and stockings only. I have to remember I'm not the only personwho lives here and this is everyone's holiday season. However, I'm thinking I may promise to take them to a couple of movies over christmas if we can keep it to a minimum. they lvoe to go to the movies, which we rarely do, so it will be a real treat.

anyone else wanna admit to being a grinch?

[AbbieB]

I feel that way too.

I enjoy Christmas decorations, but I hate setting them up and taking them down. I hate storing them.

My hatred started when my Mom would force me (and Dad and sister) to help decorate. She would drag it out and get mad if you were not excited enough. Blah. It was fun as a little kid, but torture from about 11 years old and on. Then as soon as we were done opening presents the "dechristmasification" would begin.

Last year, DD spent the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas at my parents house. I didn't do any decorating at all. We spent the holidays together at my parents house so the kids did not miss out. This year the kids will be home and DS will be old enough to enjoy so we'll be decorating.

[cera]

I hate it. Ours is up too only for the kids and I take it down usualy the day after Christmas. We also don't put it up until December and in previous years when my youngest was much younger we only put it up a week before Christmas to avoid him pulling it all down. I especially hate people's outdoor holiday decorations.

[lolar2]

Since on that other thread you said something about wanting to live in a completely empty space with no furniture , maybe your family would do well with a compromise-- you could switch out the regular pot holders, dish towels, tablecloth and hand towels for holiday-themed towels and pot holders, and that kind of thing. You could put a wreath on the outside of the door so it isn't taking up space in your house; if you have pictures on the wall you could wrap them like presents; you could play Christmas music. If the kids don't care much about the village and just want some kind of general decoration, you could get rid of the village and during the year, you could probably store the holiday towels (pot holders, etc.) in the same space where you store the village. Music would only take up space in your hard drive, or you could even just play it streaming.

You could also get a bunch of candy canes and hang them up everywhere and then eat them after Christmas is over!

[Jackies Ladybug]

if i hung candy canes all over my house, they would be gone a week later and i would ooze peppermint out my pores for the rest of my life! haha, at least i wouldnt need deodorant any more!

i absolutly hate christmas decorations, my MIL gets so upset that we dont decorate. one year she came down and cried profusely until we went out to get a tree, but since it was christmas eve there werent really any left. so i picked the smallest sparsest tree there was and put 4 ornaments on it. she was still mad.

i am hoping that i can get away with not decorating ever, once the kids are old enough to want christmas decorations i'll let them decorate their play room so i can close the door and not have to see it.

i think my hatred comes from working retail where its christmas season from the day after halloween until christmas day. christmas music gives me nightmares now.

[ABrez]

I despise them. They take up so much room to store! They are a pain to put up and down. And my husband has soooo much stuff our house is cluttered enough without putting up decorations. So, yes. +1 on the hating decorations.

[cera]

Originally Posted by Jackies Ladybug

i absolutly hate christmas decorations, my MIL gets so upset that we dont decorate. one year she came down and cried profusely until we went out to get a tree, but since it was christmas eve there werent really any left. so i picked the smallest sparsest tree there was and put 4 ornaments on it. she was still mad.

I had issues with my MIL as well a few Christmas's ago. It was when we chose to only put the tree and decorations up for about a week. She came on Christmas day and flipped out that I was taking the tree down on the 26th. I told her Christmas was over so the decorations were coming down. She was very mad and upset, she told me that you had to keep them up past New Year. I told her New Year's and Christmas are two different holidays and the tree was coming down. Sorry my house, my rules.

[lolar2]

Originally Posted by cera

I had issues with my MIL as well a few Christmas's ago. It was when we chose to only put the tree and decorations up for about a week. She came on Christmas day and flipped out that I was taking the tree down on the 26th. I told her Christmas was over so the decorations were coming down. She was very mad and upset, she told me that you had to keep them up past New Year. I told her New Year's and Christmas are two different holidays and the tree was coming down. Sorry my house, my rules.

In a lot of denominations of Christianity (Catholic, Anglican and some others), the religious Christmas season is considered to begin on Christmas Eve and to end on Epiphany, January 6. Before that, it's Advent. People of those denominations who are more traditional, tend to follow the same pattern with their decorations. If your MIL belongs to one of those traditions-- even if she no longer follows it-- that might account for her reaction.

[ChristyMarie]

Originally Posted by AbbieB

.................

My hatred started when my Mom would force me (and Dad and sister) to help decorate. She would drag it out and get mad if you were not excited enough. Blah. It was fun as a little kid, but torture from about 11 years old and on. Then as soon as we were done opening presents the "dechristmasification" would begin.

.......................

I think this is why my husband hates setting stuff up and taking it down. He enjoys it when it is up but if it were up to him I think he would just do one tree and be done with it. I completely blame his mother for MAKING him be the one responsible for getting and setting up a real tree every year. I don't think he ever got to just enjoy it as a kid.

He helped me decorate the first year but I could tell he was NOT enjoying it. Now I just go ahead and do it and he no longer feels guilt for not helping. (thank his mother for that guilt reaction!)

He indulges me though as I'm one of those people you all hate. I have 4 trees. They go up at Thanksgiving and get taken down a bit after New Year's. I admit, it is a PITA but I take several days to do it and I enjoy it. And I don't make anyone help except DH has to help me get the one tree up the ladder to a display ledge that's about 15 or 20 feet up. Yes, he really loves me that much!

[doubledutch]

i was seriously considering getting rid of my tree and ornaments, since it's more of a "cultural" holiday for us and not religious. however, we just have a small tinsel tree and one box of ornaments, so i've decided to keep them another year, for my boys. (okay, and i actually enjoy putting up the tree!) however, i think i'll declutter this year as i put the ornaments on the tree. last year, they didn't all come out of the box. i don't see a reason to keep hanging on to the ones i don't use.

[Caneel]

I wouldn't go so far as to say I hate it but it stresses me out. DH wants the house to look seasonal and festive but when it comes right down to it, his baggage from childhood crushes his joy.

So decorating starts out fun. We go shopping for a tree, get greens, pointsettias and wreaths.

Then we get home and he starts to weird out.

Last year really tried my patience. He sat in the kitchen staring at the walls, denying anything was wrong while I spent the day putting lights on the tree and decorating it.

I will continue to do it for DS but it sort of makes me sad and frustrated while in the process.

Our decorations are natural for the most part, greens and pine cones. I haul out old dishes (crystal, silverplate) to use as candle holders and mix those into the arrangements.

I would have NO TIME for any villages, outdoor lights, anything luminated and inflatable.

[Kino]

The tree and ornaments went in the divorce

Because of illness I'm not going to even bother with the few decorations I do like. I'm going to start collecting seasonal tablecoths and use that for the holiday spirit. I have an open floor plan so the most eye-catching thing in the house is the kitchen table.

[HappilyEvrAfter]

I do it for the kid. Period.

If it were just me I wouldn't drag it all out just to pack up again. Even when I was married I dreaded doing it....so, it's not just a "I hate it cause I have to do it all" thing.

I love going to the stores to see all the decorations and often daydream about having a house that's warm, cozy with Christmas trinkets everywhere, but I'd feel cramped if I actually did it.

The tree (with trimmings) and some lights are about all I do...maybe a door hanger and some Nutcrackers.

[nascarbebe]

I love looking at it in catalogs, especially like Pottery Barn but I just hate doing it in my own home. Most of it just looks so cheesy when you see it in real people's homes. And I don't understand people who decorate their homes for other holidays like Easter or Valentine's.

DS is 4 1/2 and he has started to take interest in parties and holidays so I'm thinking of gettting a small, pre-lit tree that I saw at Walmart for $18 for his room. I think he will love that. I take care of a 10-mo-old baby so I have an excuse again this year that there's a baby in the house and I don't want her yanking on the tree or chewing on the toxic Christmas lights So that gets me out of dragging out the big one .

[OneLightLife]

I am pretty minimal about decorations in general; holiday ones are no exception.

We do a family tree & small (artifical) kids tree in their play area. Last year I used some of their wooden animals and made a Nativity scene. I'll usually hang some ornaments on doors. We have a special throw and pillows for the couch.

That's it really. Enough. Like it that way.

[AFWife]

I guess I'm a true Grinch

My "Holiday Decoration"

[sunnysandiegan]

I do it like lolar2 suggested upthread. I dislike all the fuss about Christmas and really dislike the way retail ignores Thanksgiving. However, I don't mind my own version of holiday decor. We get one tree and decorate it with our favorite ornaments and "other" items. We pare down each year since certain people seem to think we need an endless supply of ornaments. To be fair, these people have DD's best interests at heart and just want her to have her own set of ornaments when she is old enough to move out. The challenge is there are three of these people. Three times 18 years will equal 54 ornaments and if she stays with us through college the number will go up even more.

Anyway, AFTER Thanksgiving weekend (yes, the WHOLE weekend is devoted to Thanksgiving), then we will start slowly swapping Christmas items for "everyday" items. Towels and placemats and potholders are typically the first round. I have a couple holiday picture frames that I swap out, too. Then, DD will put up holiday clings wherever she wishes.

We buy our tree two or three weekends before Christmas, depending on when the 25th falls during the week, and we devote that whole weekend to fun holiday traditions. By Monday, the house is holiday'd out and we enjoy it until the weekend after Christmas. Recently, Christmas was on a Friday and by Sunday, the house was back to normal. That is the quickest we'd do. DD absolutely ADORES our holiday traditions and DH & I developed them based on *our* likes and dislikes, so we really LIKE them, too.

We have four family members who live within a four-hour drive of us and we invite them to the line-up of holiday events. They each have varying degrees of "issues" and pick & choose what they participate in. It works really nicely for us since they tend to attend the easiest events and never ALL of them at once (not since the first Christmas DD was here, thank goodness...THAT Christmas should NEVER be repeated). Our favorite relatives coincidentally tend to hang out with us the most!

[catscharm74]

I tend to keep it simple..big bowl of holiday mints and candy canes, several pretty candles in sparkly containers or on glass coasters, white lights- on the porch and on top of my tv stand, for ambience. The tree--- all white blinking lights (my son likes the blinking), one small box of various decorations, 1 small box of 3 different types of Christmas balls, 4 stockings and I changed out the decorations in my large decorative jars (pinecones, nuts, candy). I tend to stick with pink, white, blue and silver in my colors. Not much but the co-hesiveness makes it look beautiful.I also have 2 small white trees that go on the mantle. I am not a chotsky collector, so no villages or anything like that.

[Drummer's Wife]

i don't like a bunch of tacky christmas-y stuff cluttering the house, either. I don't mind minimal, pretty decorations - like a wreath on the door, a fancy tablecloth, maybe a bit of lights... But all the tiny, collections of christmas cheer are too much for me. We are going to do two trees again (a big one in the family room, a smaller one in the formal living room) but other than that I will only have a few other select items like the stockings, and maybe I'll change out the kitchen towels.

I know some people like all the stuff, though. They collect it, they carefully store it (I'm lucky if I can find enough ornaments) and have to set it all up, dust it, keep the kids from breaking stuff, etc... It's just not my thing, I guess. ohhhhh, especially all the noisy christmas carol playing stuff. no way could I handle much of that.

[maggiemae]

I have a love/hate relationship with them