Decorating for the Holidays – There are Rules!

And so, the 2026 holiday season begins. Stores have had Halloween decorations up since July. Christmas decorations started appearing in late July and early August and are in full swing now.I’m the holiday decorator in our household… big surprise! And because I do the decorating (and no one else much cares), I’ve established a set of rules for decorating. Of course, I’m the only one who has to follow them, so they can be altered or modified at will. For instance, Halloween decorations cannot go up until at least October 1st and MUST come down on November 1st so that Thanksgiving decorations can go up. Then, of course, Thanksgiving adornments and anything ‘fallish’ need to be removed no later than December 1st, so that we can set up the tree and decorate for the Christmas season. If I’m home for Thanksgiving (which we won’t be this year), I begin decorating the day after Thanksgiving. I carefully pack away all the Christmas decorations on New Year’s Day and then wait impatiently for…