We do it the weekend that falls between 1 and 2 weeks before Christmas, so this year it should be the 13th-14th. I am in charge of the operation and actually choose the date and start things moving. I also take the lead in all tree-trimming and house-decorating activities. I don’t like it all to be up for too long because its charm wears out, and I don’t want the tree to be sagging by Christmas morn.
Between now and then, I have to take down all the fall decorations (I decorate heavily to get into the seasonal mood and overcome end-of-summer gloom), and the tree-choosing mission has to be launched. Fresh trees for us, picked by husband and one or more offspring at a nearby church lot. The clock starts tomorrow.
On New Year’s Day we perform the Last Miracle of Christmas, which is getting all the decorations back into the boxes they came from. It always looks like it simply can’t be done, and then—whoosh! the last thing gets stuffed in, and the last box is tied shut before anything can jump out again, and it’s all over.