How long will you leave your Christmas decorations up?

That's a good amount of time. Do you have a lot of outside decorations?

Isn't it funny how some people see the decorations as clutter and others see them as being beautiful? I would be interested in seeing if the people who consider decorations to be clutter would consider themselves control freaks while the people who enjoy the decorations classify themselves as easy going. Maybe I'll start that discussion! I'm glad I'm not alone on seeing the decorations as clutter, anyway!

There are a lot of things to me that seems to be clutter. I can not stand to have a lot of furnature in my house, because to me that is cluttered. I like to have big open rooms. Not every corner full. My mother-in-law on the other hand is the total opposite. If she does not have corner of every room filled with something her house is empty. It if funny how people are so different.

Oh, I hear you about big, open rooms with no clutter. I don't have any knick-knacks for that reason anymore and I do keep the furniture to a minimum. If I start feeling stressed in a room I automatically look around to see if I've collected to much "stuff".

I hear you about getting back into the swing of things for school. I am very routine oriented and get stressed when there is a major change in routine. The school break isn't too bad, but all the holiday activities start taking a toll on me. The best way for me to get back into sync is to take the decorations down and start back on our usual schedule, even if that only means getting up and having breakfast at the same time as usual.

Oh, dnd, I would leave the tree and all the decorations up as long as I could in that case. I hope your mom will be with you longer, though!

That would make sense if you are traveling not to put any decorations up. Where did you travel to? Did you have a good trip?

Yes, we had a great trip (still here actually). Thanks for asking.
We live in New Jersey and we are in Mississippi right now.

Have happy and safe travels back home when you head that way!

I understand about the decorations getting on your nerves after Christmas! I feel the same way, but I start getting frustrated with them long before Christmas. LOL

Ahh, good idea to get a Christmas tree now. I'm sure they have an excellent clearance sale!

That sounds like a fun tradition. A day of getting organized for the future. Do you have a family tradition that says that whatever you do on NY Day is what you will do the rest of the year? My mom always used to tell us that.

I have heard that, and perhaps thats why my Mom always did this... I'm following in her footsteps. I hope it will start me down a better path this year... I've been working on being more organized, but you can only organize this much stuff to a point...
My resolution should be to stop seeing EVERYTHING as precious, and learn how to toss!LOL!

Learning how to toss is definitely an aquired art. I think I've gone too far that way. I can't stand anything hanging around that isn't used often. The one BIG exception is books. My kids have literally hundreds of them, I'm sure, but I can't let them go too easily!

I don't like clutter in the main living area, but it my 3 craft rooms its unavoidable. One is a sewing room, one is for general crafts, and one is for papercrafts. Lucky for me we had three kids and needed a big house!
Yes, books are my downfall... I have a full bookcase for each subject, Hun has a bookcase for his manuals and measurement and tolerances guides... and #1 craft room has bookcases lining the walls!

Wow, three craft rooms. That is cool! Unfortunately I am not crafty at all. But I could certainly use one room dedicated to being a library! That is my dream one day. To have a sitting room with bookshelves all around, the perfect reading light, and a desk for writing. Well, only 11 more years until my oldest turns 18. Maybe I'll steal her room when the time comes! LOL

My children believe thats the only reason I had them... but I told them I needed someone to do the dishes as well...

LOL... that's great! I used to tell my mom that the only reason she had us kids was to do the chores. Of course, that was back when I was a snotty teenager. Now I know she had kids so she could eventually have grandkids to spoil! LOL

Ah, we're tricky... we have so many and varied reasons! My kids know the REAL reason... we just love to goof on each other! But I am really pleased about the grandchildren part of this... I adore my six!!

Six grandchildren- that's great! I always tease my mom and say that my girls get treated better than I did. She always teases back and says I'm right. Actually, my mom is loving but strict with my kids the same way she was with me. My dad on the other hand... he'll tell you that he spoils my girls. Ice cream for dinner once in awhile is not something I remember as a kid. I just sit back and smile and let him have fun, though, because I know it is building great memories. Fortunately we only live 3 miles away from my mom and dad so the kids get to see my parents often.

Wow, three months! That sounds like a really long time to me. Thanks for sharing!

My sis once left her tree up for the entire year... luckily, it was artificial! But it was so beautiful, so full of hand-made ornaments and memories, that I couldn't blame her... every time we went to see them I'd be poking around in that tree and finding my past...

That does sound neat if the decorations were special. It's kind of like a "living" scrapbook. I couldn't do it, but I could see how it would be interesting.

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one that has taken all of Christmas down. Do you decorate for other holidays?