ITS CHRISTMAS!!!!!

[Fi]

Ah that is a lovely story behind putting the tree up, my story isnt as special, my X's birthday is the 11th Dec and we always liked to have it up for his Bth.

I have to take it down on teh 6th Jan, as suspicion prevents me leaving it up any longer!!!!

My Mother was highly suspicious, and to this day alot of her beliefs ahve stuck!!

[edel]

Thats like me, my birthday is on the 12th December and we always put the tree up a few days before then. At the moment we have a fake tree and i absolutely hate it so im going to try and get a real one this year. Nothing beats the smell of a real tree.

[petitchien]

Hi all,

We always put up our tree on the 8th Dec and take it down on Little Christmas the 6th Jan .... of course if it was up to my husband we'd have it up now ..... his birthday is the 23 Dec and he likes to have a long celebration/festive season !!

We have a really nice fake tree and I want to keep that, especially with this being Gizmo's first Christmas and if that gets wrecked then we can always go "natural" next year .... HOWEVER, hubbie wants a real tree as he likes the smell aswell .... personally pot pourri / candles have the same effect .....

Should be interesting what happens .... Hey - MAYBE we'll have two trees????

[Linda]

the reason we put our tree up so early is when my gran was dying my mum put it up early for her, she died on the 1st of december, and our tree fell over the same time my gran died, so we always have our decorations up for the 1st, i still do it even though my gran died before i was born!

my kids are 5 and 9, and are starting to get excited for santa coming, next year i'm taking them to Lapland as i think it will be the last year my daughter "believes"

linda, i didn't feel offended and my tree stays up until the middle of jan, as i hate the rooms feeling so bare once all the decorations are down

That is so touching, God bless your gran.
I am sure she is lookin down at enjoying your tree.
My kids don't believe at all anymore, but of course they pretend just
so they can get their stockin filled and a gift from Santa, as a child
my mother never wrapped Santa gifts. I have carried that tradition on
but my sister-in-law has always wrapped them. I always told my kids
Santa has to many kids to bring gifts to and can't wrap them. When they
were younger they were always a little confused as to why their cousins
Santa gifts were Wrapped icon_banana icon_banana icon_banana

Glad you didn't think I was being snoopy, sometimes special memories
are hard.

[Jo B]

We also put our tree on the 10th and take it down after the 6th of Jan.

I cant wait for Christmas this year Im getting a cavalier for my christmas present off my other half and I cant wait to collect her icon_banana icon_banana icon_banana icon_banana

Im worse than a kid

[Linda]

We also put our tree on the 10th and take it down after the 6th of Jan.

I cant wait for Christmas this year Im getting a cavalier for my christmas present off my other half and I cant wait to collect her icon_banana icon_banana icon_banana icon_banana

Im worse than a kid

icon_yikes icon_yikes icon_yikes icon_yikes icon_yikes icon_yikes
You sure are a lucky gal, what are getting a bleinham, tri, ruby or black and tan.
What more could a gal want, your gettin spoiled and we know who
else will be ?????????????

[Maxxs_Mummy]

We also put our tree on the 10th and take it down after the 6th of Jan.

I cant wait for Christmas this year Im getting a cavalier for my christmas present off my other half and I cant wait to collect her icon_banana icon_banana icon_banana icon_banana

Im worse than a kid

Oh wowwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How lucky are you???? More info, news and pics please

My b.day is on the 7th and when I was a kid as it was so near to Xmas I never had many b.day parties so my dad used to insist the decs went up on my b.day to make it more special When we married my hubby carried on the tradition for more than a few years but now I stall for time & I think last year it was something like the 22nd

They always have to be down by twelfth night though, whatever. I'm as superstitious as you are Fi!

[Harry & Heidi's mom]

can someone enlighten me as to why you take your decorations down by the 12th???

[Karlin]

Twelfth Night is actually Jan 6 of the 12 days of Christmas fame. This is where it gets the name; in the Uk and Ireland it was traditional to take down the decorations on the 12th day of Christmas (Jan 6). That's a very ancient observance, probably dating to dancing and revelries to mark the end of Christmas on the 12th day.

Here is what The World Book Encyclopedia
says about the holiday "Twelfth Night":
""Twelfth Night is a Christian holiday celebrated 12 days after Christmas, on January 6.
It marks the end of the Christmas season. Christians also observe the Feast of Epiphany
on January 6. In Western Christian churches, this holiday commemorates the coming of
the wise men to the Christ child. Among Eastern Christians, Twelfth Night celebrates the
baptism of Jesus. In Italy and Spain, children still receive gifts on this day in
remembrance of the gifts the wise men brought to Jesus. In the Greek Orthodox Church,
the Blessing of the Waters takes place on January 6. In the ceremony, divers retrieve a
cross thrown into a body of water by a priest.
Twelfth Night was originally celebrated in the Middle Ages at the end of the 12 days of
Christmas. William Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night was possibly first performed
on January 6."

[petitchien]

Yeah there are a lot of personal and "traditional" beliefs about Christmas but once it's a happy time for everyone involved I think that's the most important thing ...... "looking-for-a-friend" I'm sure you now feel a great emotion in associating your Gran with the happy and exicting task of putting up the decorations .....

For us we put them up on Dec 8th as is a national school holiday (unfortunately it stops once you leave school!!) as it's the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (only brought in by the "establishment" in the 19th century)
and like Karlin said we usually take it down on Jan 6th as that's the Feast of the Epiphany (apparently the date that the Three Wise Men brought the gold, frankincense and myrrh to Jesus)

Can't wait to get them all set up now ....... hope it snows here too at Christmas, now that would be perfect !!!