When Do You Take Down Your Christmas Tree And Decorations?

It's always fun getting and decorating the Greg "Splashin'" McShea family Christmas tree. (Do I sound like Clark Griswold here)? So, the question is when do you take it down? We have a real tree and put it up early, so we keep it up depending on how dry it gets. When there's more Christmas tree needles on the carpet than on the tree, that's the time to take it down. Apparently, there is some guidance on how long to leave up your tree and Christmas decorations.

Here are the details from wiki.answers.com:

"Following Christian tradition, the Christmas tree would be put up and decorated on December 24, Christmas Eve, and stay up until January 6, the day of Epiphany. Epiphany is a feast day that celebrates God the son, as the human Jesus Christ.

However, it seems most people put their Christmas trees up after Thanksgiving and usually take them down after New Year's Day.

The traditional day is 6th Jan, also for the decorations."

I would add that many people have artificial trees and enjoy their festive look days and weeks after Christmas. Concerning Christmas lights on your house, you might want to wait for good dry weather before attempting to get on a ladder and taking them down.

Of course if you're like that "Redneck Woman" Gretchen Wilson, you leave your Christmas lights up all year long!