I usually make the excuse that I just don't get around to it, but the real reason is ... we have a certain "little" cat. Generally, Christmas decorations go up on December 24th, and are taken down January 2nd, because a certain little someone thinks all Christmas decorations are cat toys. My parents, who always had a houseful of pets, did things that way. My mom now has two dogs and a cat that leave the decorations alone. My in-laws, who've seldom had pets (one outdoor dog
and a bored parakeet/budgie) have always decorated right before Advent. My husband really doesn't like the fact that I "ignore" Christmas until the day before (of course, he ignores the fact that I get stuck with all the shopping, and start in August at the latest), so I decided to put some Christmas decorations up today to keep him happy. Jamie was up most of the night, and buzzing around until about 2 p.m. today, so I figured it was safe to decorate while he was crashed out up in his cat tree late this afternoon. He woke up about 6 p.m., and immediately tore the Christmas stockings down (expensive - monogrammed petit-point ones I bought for everybody last Christmas) from where they were hung, about 6 ft. high on our china closet (no fireplace). When I scolded him, he went into the kitchen, and pulled down the window decorations (plastic, supposed to look like glass mosaics). While I was putting them back up, he ran back into the living room, and pulled down the window decorations there. I have a huge collection of handmade tree ornaments, which have remained in their boxes for the past five years. Instead, our tree is decorated with cheap and easily replaced wooden ornaments, which are stripped off the tree every day and hidden under the sofas, TV, stereo, rug, and in the litter box. Does anybody else have a "Jack the Christmas Tree Stripper"? I find myself thinking about buying one of those little ceramic Christmas trees with a light bulb inside, and foregoing any other decorations.
