Confession: I’m not a Scrooge, But I Don’t Decorate for the Holidays

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I grew up in a household that decorated for each holiday we celebrated. We even had an Easter tree, leprechaun visits for St. Patrick’s Day, and smoke machines for Halloween. It was great fun, but then again I wasn’t responsible for setting it up or taking it down. Now as an adult with those kind of responsibilities of cleaning and picking up daily, the idea of getting boxes down from the attic or garage to set something up for a few weeks and then put away is not appealing at all. I don’t want to decorate. I’m that mom.

It’s fall time and lots of families are decorating with spider webs, straw bales, and ghosts. Me? I bought a few pumpkins from the store that I’ll throw out after the season is over. No unpacking or packing required. If my kids move them around the house, I see it as they created a fun hunting game. Do I care if that mini pumpkin is in the kitchen or bathroom? Nope. It’s festive anywhere, so it will do.

What about Christmas? We’ll buy a real tree, put on lights and ornaments and my husband will tackle some lights on the exterior. I mean I’m not a total anti-decorator, but that will be about it. I’ll use my daughter’s holiday art work from school to hang up, light a winter scented candle, and call it a day.

Are my kids missing out on a house full of exciting and colorful decorations? Maybe, but I’m saving my sanity. The holidays are busy enough with outings, Santa visits, family visits, parties, and remembering really why we celebrate the holiday that decorating just comes last for me.

A lack of decorating doesn’t mean we can’t have fun for the holiday season. I just see it as less to put away come January. Do you decorate for each holiday?

2 COMMENTS

  1. Wonderful, light read. Putting up decorations is one of those things that I think most people just sort of assume but for busy parents it can be much more of a chore than a treat, and doesn’t that kind of defeat the purpose? I think all kids would agree they’d much rather have a happy sane mom than a totally decked out house and a mom that’s beyond frazzled.

  2. The last few years I have decorated more for the holidays. I really enjoy it now as not only for the kids, but also as a creative outlet for me! We never decorated for Halloween when I was a kid but now the whimsy of it and the fun is my jam. I like that it’s a tradition for my family. It’s a fun, busy and magical time of year!

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