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Blog Blast: Getting Back into the Swing of Things

PBN and the new SC Johnson website, Right@Home, have teamed up for a blog blast about how you clean up after the holidays, and they want to know how you get back in the swing of things.

After two full weeks of sleeping late, a laid-back posting schedule, wondering what day of the week it is, and having three kids underfoot 24/7, I was relieved to get back into the swing of things this week. Finally Friday feels like Friday (instead of last week when EVERY day felt like Friday) and I’m actually dreading the weekend a little bit.

We’re pretty much packed up and put away, with the notable exception of the dead greenery on the outside of the house. My husband is ruthless about putting away Christmas by New Years Day, so I grudgingly went along with it when he drug all the boxes down from the attic and hauled the Christmas tree to the curb on January 1st — the latest we’ve de-Christmassed in years. Usually it’s closer to December 26th, which may seem intense, but then again, we usually decorate for the holidays on Thanksgiving weekend, so by Christmas Day our live tree is merely a skeleton of its former glory.

I don’t have any great tips for getting the house put back together in a timely manner except for the old Nike ad slogan — Just Do It.  When my husband brought those boxes down, I wanted to crawl under my desk and hide until it was all over.  I was so NOT in the mood for the task at hand.  But my husband insisted that once we got started, it would feel so good to get rid of all the Christmas clutter.  So we trudged along, and by the end of the day, I was glad we had persevered.  There is nothing quite as satisfying as a home recently cleared of its holiday trimmings.  It always feels so empty and clean.

Unfortunately the bitter cold has prevented us from spending the time necessary to de-Christmas the exterior of our home, and since I don’t have to stare at the dying greenery (which is now more brown than green) unless I actually emerge from my cozy haven, which I try to avoid at all costs, there it remains — a grim reminder to every passerby that the festivity of the holidays is behind us and all we have to look forward to is the dreary, frigid, lifeless part of winter.  As diligent as we are to rid the inside of the house of any reminder of Christmas past, we are equally as negligent to do the same for the outside.  My goal at this point is to take it down by Easter.

How do you get back into the swing of the things after the holidays?

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11 Responses

  1. This Monday was “back to reality” day for us. The night before, I wrote out my next day’s schedule and did a little internal “boo hoo” over how quickly the holiday season had ended. Then, I just dived back in to reality 🙂

  2. I do a lot of polishing and dusting. Then I rearragne furniture and plan to paint rooms (actually doing it takes a bit longer!). Like you, I’m all about taking down the decorations the day after Christmas and use that week before New Year’s to shiny up the place. After that tree has been up a month, it is about outlived its green and is ready for the burn pile.

  3. I usually drag it out until after New Years but this year I was ready to put away the decorations the day after Christmas. Granted, the wreaths are still up outside because they are covered in snow yet again. Unfortunately my house has been sick since New Years so I’m having a horrible time getting back into the swing of things. I’m in shock (and denial) that this week is over and the weekend is already here!

  4. This year I worked to stay as on top of things as I can. Getting up Monday was much easier since I got up close to the same time all break. It made it easier.

  5. Christmas has to be down by New Years day for me, the whole inside – all at once – a 2 hour jam session. I have labled tubs that everything goes in so it is easy to put away and get back out…

    The lights outside…we do our best but colorado weather is finiky and icy roofs are not safe. Sadly this year 3/4’s came down last saturday before the snow came and the last of them are STILL there. But they are on the back of the house and we hit open space so no-one knows but us!

  6. The past two years, the way we got ourselves cleaned up from all the Chirstmas stuff was by having a New Years Eve party. Nothing gives motivation like 50 people tromping through the house! Of course, we still haven’t taken down the lights and garland, cuz we like being classy neighbors. You’ll have to read my latest blog post to see what our “record” is for taking down the Christmas tree! 🙂

  7. I was never in the swing of things to begin with…but my hubby did put the tree & all that stuff away for me! I just can’t seem to make room for all the NEW stuff!

  8. I usually get some help from my girls. This year I tackled everything a little at a time. I took down the few outdoor decorations and my stairway banister the same day. The next day I took down the tree and all the rest of the Christmas stuff. My kids were not so into helping this year but I cracked the whip and kept them going. We got it done and we did feel good about it.

    The best day was sending everyone back to school and work as we were starting to annoy each other in a BIG way!

    Hey, I just saw that our highs next week are going to be single digits. Does that help you feel better?

    Hugs!

  9. Would you believe I finally got the tree down TODAY?!? It’s been up since the middle of November (because the kids insisted on putting it up early). I couldn’t stand it any longer. I finally shut the computer off and refused to turn it back on until the deed was done. Now it is. And you’re right, it does feel so empty and clean. 🙂

  10. Ohmygosh! This is the best time in the world to cozy in with the kids and read the Narnia series aloud at night! We did that one winter and our boys still talk about it! I’m actually planning to blog about it.

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