The Case for Simplifying Christmas Decorations
When decking the halls becomes more of a job than a joy, it’s time to focus on what matters most
“Honey, I wanted to let you know I’m going through my Christmas things and getting rid of everything other than my favorite ornaments for the tree.” This was my 76-year-old mother speaking, the woman whose unspoken motto has been “More is more” when it comes to many things in life, and especially to decorating at Christmas.
“After I sort through things, you and Torey [my sister] and the kids may take whatever you want. I’m donating the rest,” she said. “That’s great,” I said, not needing to think about it even for a moment. Still, I was curious. “What prompted this?” She sighed. “Taking it all down about did me in last year, and I realized even the fun part, the decorating, had become a chore.”
Can you relate?
“After I sort through things, you and Torey [my sister] and the kids may take whatever you want. I’m donating the rest,” she said. “That’s great,” I said, not needing to think about it even for a moment. Still, I was curious. “What prompted this?” She sighed. “Taking it all down about did me in last year, and I realized even the fun part, the decorating, had become a chore.”
Can you relate?
That’s how it is for Sherry Chidwick. For the past five years, her kids have insisted on choosing scraggly ponderosa pine saplings for their Christmas tree. “A 6-foot-tall Charlie Brown tree doesn’t support much decor, as the branches are too few and too far apart and too weak to support much weight,” she says. “They have been happy to select only a few lightweight ornaments, a string of beads and a few twinkling lights, and call it good, for the tree. A small Nativity set, the collection of Christmas books, a few large snowflakes hanging in the windows, and a string of lights over the stockings on the mantel, and we are good to go. After many years of constant travel, we have all come to love our simple scene at Christmas.”
Scale Back Little by Little
Years ago, I pared back on my own holiday decorating. Even so, every year as I’m decorating the tree, I pay attention and set aside any ornaments I don’t really love. I give my children a chance to veto before I give anything away. They all live at home, and ornaments are an important part of our family culture. When each child goes out into the world, we’ll send them off with their own box of ornaments. For now, I’m happy to accommodate their wishes.
Many grown children enjoy receiving their parents’ holiday castoffs. Alisa Bolander does. “My mom lets us know before she ditches ornaments and decorations,” she says. “I’ve grabbed a handful that I’m nostalgic about, and they hang on my tree.”
Years ago, I pared back on my own holiday decorating. Even so, every year as I’m decorating the tree, I pay attention and set aside any ornaments I don’t really love. I give my children a chance to veto before I give anything away. They all live at home, and ornaments are an important part of our family culture. When each child goes out into the world, we’ll send them off with their own box of ornaments. For now, I’m happy to accommodate their wishes.
Many grown children enjoy receiving their parents’ holiday castoffs. Alisa Bolander does. “My mom lets us know before she ditches ornaments and decorations,” she says. “I’ve grabbed a handful that I’m nostalgic about, and they hang on my tree.”
Take It One Year at a Time
That’s what Sharon Murphy does. “Christmas decorating ebbs and flows each year at our house,” she says. “The last few years, the girls have done the bulk of it Thanksgiving weekend, using their own editorial processes. Nothing gets fully discarded (unless broken), just returned to the basement. This year, since we were scattered for Thanksgiving, we’re seriously ebbing — as in, there’s nothing up yet!”
For Karin Caston, it depends on whether or not she’s hosting. “When we host Christmas at our home, I go all out, whole house gets decorated inside, some outdoor lights as well.” Otherwise, she scales back to just the Christmas tree and the living room mantel, with a few things in the kitchen.
That’s what Sharon Murphy does. “Christmas decorating ebbs and flows each year at our house,” she says. “The last few years, the girls have done the bulk of it Thanksgiving weekend, using their own editorial processes. Nothing gets fully discarded (unless broken), just returned to the basement. This year, since we were scattered for Thanksgiving, we’re seriously ebbing — as in, there’s nothing up yet!”
For Karin Caston, it depends on whether or not she’s hosting. “When we host Christmas at our home, I go all out, whole house gets decorated inside, some outdoor lights as well.” Otherwise, she scales back to just the Christmas tree and the living room mantel, with a few things in the kitchen.
Consider the Big Picture
Lynn Meyer is the oldest in her family. She was 12 the year her sister, the youngest and fifth child, was born. It was also the year that her parents called it quits with decorating for the holidays and the kids took over. “My parents were really sick of the holiday hubbub,” she says. “My dad never helped with the tree, and perhaps having a newborn was the breaking point for my mom.
“We kids would haul down the artificial tree and decorate it ourselves,” she says. “I suppose we took it down and put it up in the attic when we were done too. We only had a tree. No other decorations except a small stand-alone manger scene where the figures were glued in.
“Now I am putting together that my sister was born on Dec. 10. It all makes sense — this was the breaking point for my mother. As a child, I did not comprehend this. My two babies were 16 months apart. After the second one was born, we stopped putting up our tree until she was 4 or 5. I guess I couldn’t handle it with little kids either.”
Lynn Meyer is the oldest in her family. She was 12 the year her sister, the youngest and fifth child, was born. It was also the year that her parents called it quits with decorating for the holidays and the kids took over. “My parents were really sick of the holiday hubbub,” she says. “My dad never helped with the tree, and perhaps having a newborn was the breaking point for my mom.
“We kids would haul down the artificial tree and decorate it ourselves,” she says. “I suppose we took it down and put it up in the attic when we were done too. We only had a tree. No other decorations except a small stand-alone manger scene where the figures were glued in.
“Now I am putting together that my sister was born on Dec. 10. It all makes sense — this was the breaking point for my mother. As a child, I did not comprehend this. My two babies were 16 months apart. After the second one was born, we stopped putting up our tree until she was 4 or 5. I guess I couldn’t handle it with little kids either.”
Handle the Pushback
Michelle Van Loon, whose children are grown, is limiting her Christmas decorations this year to a manger scene, a poinsettia and candles in the windows. “When family members expressed even a whiff of ‘Where’s all our Christmas stuff?’ I asked them if they wanted to help un-decorate in January,” she says. “Conversation over.”
It really is as simple as that.
More
Surviving the Christmas Countdown: A Parent’s Guide
Gift Giving the Simple-ish Way
Christmas Cleanup Tips for the Not Naturally Organized
Michelle Van Loon, whose children are grown, is limiting her Christmas decorations this year to a manger scene, a poinsettia and candles in the windows. “When family members expressed even a whiff of ‘Where’s all our Christmas stuff?’ I asked them if they wanted to help un-decorate in January,” she says. “Conversation over.”
It really is as simple as that.
More
Surviving the Christmas Countdown: A Parent’s Guide
Gift Giving the Simple-ish Way
Christmas Cleanup Tips for the Not Naturally Organized
Figure Out What Really Matters
My mother lives next door and I host our family Christmas, so there was no need (perceived or actual) to take anyone else’s wishes into consideration. But what if you provide someone else’s Christmas atmosphere? What if (gasp!) you have children? So many of us haul things out year after year “for the sake of the children,” and we might be surprised to know what they truly care about. When my friend Dale Hanson Bourke decided to scale back, she first checked in with her two grown sons. “I was shocked by the stuff they loved,” she says. “So I kept the goofy nutcrackers (who knew they liked them?) and gave away much of the decorations I liked but apparently they never noticed.”
You may find it’s not even the stuff that matters. Heidi Strawser still had three kids at home several years ago when she drastically cut back. “I packed up a ton of Christmas decor and took it to our local thrift shop. Not only was it a good feeling for me to downsize, but it makes decorating simpler now because I kept only what I want to decorate each year,” she says. The children didn’t mind at all. “My oldest daughter is very tradition-oriented and doesn’t like to stray from tradition or make any changes to it,” she says, “but apparently that didn’t apply to tree ornaments and decorations, but more to family-oriented traditions.”