Each year it gets harder and harder for me to take my Christmas tree down.

I don’t know if it’s the months of cold weather and gray skies ahead. Or if it’s the thought of another one of my children’s Christmases passing us by.  Or maybe it’s the packing, carrying, lifting and actual cleaning up that I dislike.

Whatever the reason though, it takes me weeks to get around to removing the twinkling white lights from my home, inside and out.

As I perused the newsfeed of my Facebook page after the holiday, I was amazed at how many people have put away their holiday décor the day after Christmas. Not only had they put it away; they feel good about doing it too.

I certainly am not finding fault with this phenomenon; I just don’t understand it.

One year, my husband and I left our Christmas tree up for months. Since we typically buy ridiculously large trees, I wasn’t ready for the big empty space or the lack of little white lights peeking out our windows as we drove up to our apartment each night after work.

It became a joke among our friends, and we started decorating it for each holiday that came around in the early part of the New Year.

Finally in late March, we took our tree down.

I’m pretty sure I won’t leave our current tree up that long, but I can’t say I’m in a hurry to take it down right now.

I just need to remind myself how hard it is to find a way to legally dispose of a real Christmas tree in early April.

Amy Grace is married with two children. You can read her every Friday on momaha.

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