I've been noticing for the last month that stores have been setting up Christmas displays. Now, up the hill about two blocks from us some people have decorated their house with icicle lights all around the roof and along the fence and have decorated the pine trees in the front yard with red lights and they are on every night. I think it's just rushing the season a bit myself. I don't do anything Christmasy until after Thanksgiving. dooley
I haven't seen lights up yet, but I'm seeing them in the stores already. Just have no interest in it this early either.
I posted this in another thread, but it really belongs here: http://www.time55.com/special_countdowns/christmas.php We decorate on December 1st or the saturday before the first sunday of advent, whatever comes first. And everything goes on January 6th.
All the shops around here have their Christmas displays up and running already. The first one to appear was in August!! We don't put up any decorations until the 17th or 18th of December as it's our daughters birthday on the 16th and we like her day to be special for her.
Some stores here started setting stuff up the 2nd week of Aug. The only good thing is that it does allow people that live from pay check to pay check to spread out their shopping over a period of time as they can afford it. I usually put our outdoor lights up on the Friday after Turkey Day.
I honestly can't believe it is so close again, last year's seems like just yesterday. Maybe I'll make the present searching less stressful this year and start looking in October
Well, I thought this commercial "rushing-of-the-season" might be strictly an American phenomenon, but it seems not. :-? I don't like it, it's little wonder that so many people say they are sick of the Christmas decorations and can't tear them down fast enough on the 26th. In our home, we leave Christmas decorations up until Epiphany, so I never begin to put them up until at least the evening of the 19th - 3 weeks is long enough to enjoy them, I think. And, anyway, that came to be the traditional 1st-day-of-the-season when I was a kid, and it was based on a birthday in my family, too, Eileen . . . . . . mine. My mom kept my birthday from being lost in the Christmas rush by treating the day as though it were really special. She would have my party early in the day - or just after school, all decorations were birthday themed and no Christmas wrappings on my b'day gifts. Then, after supper, the whole family would go out to a Christmas tree lot and select a tree (with me having the final say, since it was my birthday), then take it home and decorate it whilst drinking cocoa and munching cookies. It was great, I never felt forgotten. Eileen, I'm sure your daughter appreciates the way you have held her birthday as a special day in its own right.
We just leave our lights up year round but only turn them on after Thanksgiving. ha ha Many people up here do that. We even have some indoor Christmas lights up but not on....yet.
I put up a tree and a few other little things but Christmas use to be so much fun.It has become so commercial now its lost all the fun.
Christmas is really a lovely time of the year for me. I like what you guys do in Alaska coolalaskan. It must seem like Christmas whole year round. Around here the stores also just started with their Christmas displays. however, I hardly visit the shops (do not like crowds). We always have a great coming together at my mother's place and then we all make music, eat, and just enjoy. We all join in the tree decorating on Christmas eve. (Oops - when I say make music, I actually mean that they all make music and I make a noise.)
What a delightful christmas traditions thread this turned out to be! Neither my husband nor I like the pre-Christmas stress, so we shop gifts all year.
I put thought into Christmas gifts all year and often start my shopping in August/September. But I refuse to decorate or even wrap anything until at least December 1st. My Christmas tree goes up a few days before Christmas and comes down on January 2nd.
Are you Scandinavian, Netty? Apart from the Christmas tree thing we do exactly the same here. Our tree goes up December 23d, and back down January 6th along with the Christmas decorations and lights. Well, not always the lights. We often rename them "winter lights" and leave them on for the duration of winter. But we only have one chain of lights on the veranda, so it's no big deal. Scandinavians are not big on decorating with lights yet, but we're getting there! The shops often start displaying Christmas merchandise somewhere in November, but fairly late.
The days here are getting shorter fast, and it won't be long till DH leaves in the dark and comes home in the dark. So I have a warm-fuzzy spot for the lights, and love seeing houses with the big, old-fashioned plain ol' colored lights. But as far as the rest of it goes, I add a bit of red plaid 'round the house the weekend after Thanksgiving, then save the sparkly stuff for mid-December. Then take it all down for a clean start on the new year.
