Poll: Dopers without kids in the house- do you decorate for Christmas?

[Sampiro]

Or if Christmas isn't part of your background do you decorate for any other holiday this season? And I'm particularly curious as to whether single Dopers who live alone decorate.

[Kal]

Since my kids moved to the US, I've not really bothered apart from maybe putting Christmas cards on the windowsill. Don't count those as decorations.

I was nagged about it last year, so put up a tree for a few days to appease the source of my earache.

[EvilTOJ]

I wasn't going to since it would be just me seeing it, but my brother's coming to town and my son will stop by for a few hours on christmas.

[Nava]

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. This year I haven't. When I decorate, the centerpiece is either a teeny weeny Nativity (each figure is about half an inch tall) or a Baby Jesus.

[Tinkertoy]

No kids, no grandkids and two misbehaving cats mean no tree or lights for us.

[Onomatopoeia]

Some years yes, some years no. This year we just couldn't be bothered. Thank goodness.

[saje]

I wouldn't do it for just me. Well, maybe a wreath on the door or a string of lights in the window, but that's it. But my husband really likes some sort of recognition of the holiday, so I put up a tiny potted tree, put lights on it and prettily wrapped presents around it. I have a more or less homemade wreath on the door (looks very nice if I do say so myself!), and lights around the door and in the kitchen window.

Besides the fact that I'm basically a curmudgeon who does not go in for big celebrations, having between 6 & 9 cats & 2 large dogs in the house at any one time means that a big tree would be in constant danger. Also, any decorations would have to be no lower than 3 ft off the ground to be even remotely safe, which would look silly.

Hrumpf.

[sandra_nz]

Just my husband and me. We have a wreath on the door and a Christmas tree in the lounge. That's it.

[SanVito]

Me and my SO always do, a seven foot tree at least. I also had a tree when I lived alone. I think I would be particularly miserable living alone at Christmas in a bare apartment when everywhere else is heaving with twinkly lights.

Christmas ain't just for the kids. I'm having a lovely day tomorrow with just adult friends. We'll still have the full works – games, crackers, presents, Doctor Who Christmas special.

[Ferret Herder]

Married, no kids - most years we put up some minor lights on the house and a tree. This year we got sick of the heat leakage involved in running an extension cord outside, so we have a few wreaths and "candles", all with battery packs, on the front of the house. We usually put up a tree but were just too busy and distracted this year to bother.

[salinqmind]

Three adults here, one of them a young adult. No one cares much any more if we decorate or not, and guess whose lot in life it is to DO all the decorating??? I have three big vintage-looking brass (decorative) bird cages that I used to put plants and silk flowers in, according to the season. Hydrangeas in summer, sunflowers in the fall, beautiful silk and velvet pointsettias during Christmas. But they had to be arranged JUST SO in order to look good, and it could take over an hour, and other than me, no one cared. So I don't bother. We just put up our fake tabletop tree a week ago because tonight is Christmas Eve when we open presents, and it just doesn't seem right to have no tree at all. Someday I can see buying an enormous pointsettia plant and stringing it with tiny white lights, that would be pretty! (only I have and always will have a cat, and I wouldn't want them to nibble on a real plant, so...maybe I can stop in AC Moore next week and take a look at what they have, for future reference.)

[tpatsfan]

my parents well my mom was a big decorator so when I moved out I had my owe fake tree so I do put it up on Christmas. My b/f could careless but that is the only thing I do. I almost didn't put my tree up this up this year but my mom was upset so she came over and helped me. And I will go over their house and help her make cookies. But that is it. She makes so many that it is crazy but that way I can give them out to my boss and my b/f relatives as well so it works out.

[Swallowed My Cellphone]

My wife and I usually have a tree, a wreath on the door and some lights on the front porch. If we are hosting a Christmas party we have more stuff.

[ZipperJJ]

I said "single - some decorations no tree" but technically I do have a tree. It's akin to a wreath on the door tho. Just a 2' pre-lit jobby on which I put like 8 ornaments. It goes in the front window and serves as the outdoor lights too.

I also have these super cheap felt bear ornaments from my grandma (deceased) who was a crazy old bat, and I put them up in my fake ficus. That's the extent of my decoration.

My folks put up a tree but it's nothing special. I don't know if mom even puts any of her personal ornaments on it, or just gets matching colored balls and throws them up. It looks nice but it's not even in the family room - just off to the side of the dining room.

[Cat Whisperer]

We're somewhere in the middle on this issue, and do more some years than others. I didn't get around to putting up the fake tree this year, and won't bother now. I will pull out some more ornaments and get it looking a little Christmas-y around here (we've had lights up outside since Halloween - I like the lights outside because December is a very dark time around here).

[Antigen]

We have a tree in the living room (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nRE9gm5AIKo/TPsTv-FZ73I/AAAAAAAAAFk/3efMogA_MW8/s1600/xmastree.jpg), a tree in the family room (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nRE9gm5AIKo/TPsUOC2UOxI/AAAAAAAAAF0/eLHARaQ28Vk/s1600/xmaslittletree.jpg), and some lights outside (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nRE9gm5AIKo/TQRUZmhSt3I/AAAAAAAAAGE/PFoyIIp99K4/s1600/xmasoutside.jpg). I also scattered a few other decorations around, because many of them are from my childhood and remind me of home.

This is our first married Christmas, and our first in the new house, so despite being very stressed out and tired, I really wanted to decorate at least a little. Left to my own devices, I like to decorate a lot for Christmas, especially if people are coming over. I'm not as into it as my mother (yet) with her set of Christmas-themed dishes and coffee mugs. I will admit to the Christmas dish towels, though. My husband can take it or leave it - the only "must" for him is the tree, and the rest is extra.

[RedWood]

me, SO, no kids, three cats... only one of which is the Destroyer of All.
I put the tree on a table and only durable ornaments on the low branches. So far, no breakage...

[Not a Platypus]

When I lived alone I'd put up the little tree I had, but in the 3 years I've lived with my SO I've only bothered once. We don't have a ton of room and he just doesn't care.

[kapri]

I usually don't decorate at all (single, live alone), but this year I'm dating someone, so I put out four decorations so he won't think I'm a complete curmudgeon. My decorations: small (about 18 inches) fake tree; glass bowl full of white red, and gold ornaments; small Santa figurine; and one Christmas candle.

[hogarth]

My wife actually leaves some Christmas-y decorations up all year long! (Two nutcracker statues and a wreath-type thing.) She's originally from China, so she doesn't really associate nutcrackers with Christmas.

We also have a fake tree we put up.

[Czarcasm]

We all get together at my sis-in-law's place, decorated to the hilt(the house is decorated too :D). Tree is up and lit, the bar is open so we are up and lit, candles and knick-knacks all around, and stockings over the fireplace for all adults, filled with candy, toys and lottery tickets. All the presents are handed out, then they are opened in order of age while bystanders "oooh"! and "aahhh!" and take photos.

[Proudest Monkey]

While I love how my house looks when fully decorated, I hate putting the stuff up and I loathe taking it down. The balance is shifting though, and soon I'll either hire someone to decorate/undecorate, or just cut way back. I won't give up the lights and pine garland on the mantle, the fresh poinsettias, or my little 3-foot tree with the Santa ornaments. Everything else can stay in the giant Tupperware tubs in the cellar. If somebody bought me a wreath, I'd hang it on the front door. Probably.

When my brother and I were both out of our parents' house, I couldn't understand why my mother no longer put up a big tree, decorated the hell out of it, created a lighted & animated Christmas village, and strung lights around all the spruces out in the front yard.

Now I get it.

[Eva Luna]

Even as a single Jewish agnostic, I put up a few strings of blue and white lights. Then I married a guy from a super-Christian background, and though neither of us observes any religion really, we have a tree (not many ornaments yet), some lights, and at the moment, some candles. It's the first year we've had space for a tree. I don't know if we'd have bothered with a tree just for ourselves, but his siblings and spouses and 2-year-old niece are all here for the holiday.

[Kyla]

Single, non-Christian. I don't decorate. I enjoy parties of all stripes, and will happily participate in gift exchanges, but I don't celebrate Christmas on my own. I don't decorate for any holiday, although maybe I would if I had kids. (ie, decorate with their art projects, that sort of thing.)

[elbows]

No kids, tree, wreath, candles, lights. I have an extensive Christmas village, but I only put it up if I know there are kids coming.

And this year I made myself a Christmas wreath that I've wanted for a long time. It's in the classic shape of a peace symbol, covered in green garland and lights, red ribbon and all! I'm loving it!

[yola]

I'm single and live alone and put up a 3.5 ft pre-lit fake Christmas Tree. I love it and do it just for me. I leave it up til after New Years.

[brainstall]

Single, live alone and I decorate a bit. Wreath on the front door and a small string of lights on the front porch so the house looks a little bit festive. There's lights in the window by the back door too because I park behind my house and use the back door mostly to come and go. It's such a dark time of year - dark in the morning when I leave and dark at night when I get home. The lights are so bright and pretty to come home to.

I put up a tree this year. A real one because I have no use for fake trees. I forgot how good a real tree smells. Every time I walk by it I get that whiff of evergreen. Nothing else smells that good. I didn't hang any ornaments, just lights, and I love the way it looks.

I haven't had a tree the last couple of years - my house is small and messy and cluttered and there's no place to put one, but this year I moved the dining room table I rarely use off to the side and made space for a tree. I'm really glad I did. Even if it's only for me, or maybe just because it's only for me, I like it and it makes me feel good.

[dalej42]

Partner and I, no kids. We put up a tree as well as decorate.

[Gala Matrix Fire]

I have a few decorations that I like to have up every year, and I live alone. A small, decorated tree that keeps its ornaments on all year in the laundry room until I bring it up, and a few other things.
This year I was craving the smell of real christmas tree, so I also bought a real tree about 3 1/2 feet tall for ten dollars. Great deal.

[BigT]

We do the exact same thing as we did when there were kids in the house. But we never went all out. That's just more stuff to have to take down in February or March when we finally get around to it. We do the (fake) tree, figurines by the tree, lights in the window, and a wreath on the door. Nothing out in the yard, which is just a big hassle and is more likely to have problems.

One year Dad tried to put lights on the driveway. The next year, the lights didn't work, and changing bulbs didn't fix it. The rest of our lights we've had since, well so long I don't remember. Lights that stay indoors don't seem to break.

BTW, this is the first time I ever even considered the idea that Christmas decoration was for the kids. I think us kids were the ones who didn't care. It's the older people that like their traditions.

[panache45]

I go all out with a very elaborate tree. My partner, who lives next door, puts up some beautiful outdoor lights. No kids, unless you include the kitties and pups.

[Katriona]

Married, atheist (FWIW), no kids. We do a tree, put up small stockings for the dogs, and a display of the cards we receive. Nothing major.

[Sigmagirl]

We (married, no kids) have a tree this year for the first time in at least five years. I love a live tree, but it triggers migraines and other problems (allergies) and also we just haven't made time to do it. This year my husband was shopping for something else and saw a very good price on an artificial tree and called me to ask if he should buy it. I was always down on artificial trees, but I gave him the OK. Now we have a tree and it is not making me sick! I am very happy to have a tree again. And in getting down the ornaments from the attic we also got out other small decorations to put out elsewhere. So we're not all decked out, but you can tell it's Christmas.

[Misnomer]

I chose "Single/live alone, tree and other decorations." This year's decorations were: A 4.5' pre-lit, fake tree. I put some garland on it and hung my ornaments from it (I don't have many: each one is unique and means something to me), then I put it on an end table -- which got covered with a "santa hat" tree skirt -- and stuck it in the kitchen window (a big window that faces the street).
Mantle decorations. This included swapping out the "everyday" wreath above the fireplace for a red berry wreath, and hanging stockings for both the dog and myself. For the past seven years, every townhouse I've rented has had a fireplace and a mantle: when I move closer to the city this spring I could very well wind up fireplace-less, and I won't know what to do with all of my usual mantle decorations!
Dining room table centerpiece. The usual candles were moved to the kitchen, and I put out a small, red, wire tree that I've had for many years.
Two sparkly, plastic snowflakes that were hung in the living room.

[chrisk]

I wasn't quite sure what to put down.

I live alone.

My only decoration is an artificial fiberglass tree a little over a foot tall, including the plastic pot. When you plug this into a USB port, it glows in different colors.

So to me, that doesn't really count as 'tree plus decorations', or as 'some decorations, no tree.'

[taxi78cab]

Married, no kids. We each had an artificial tree with all the decorations for them before we got together. Neither of us really wants to give up our tree so my short one sits on a table in the two-chair sitting area, and his tall-but-really-skinny one goes in the corner of the living room between the two couches.

My husband likes the outdoor decorations so we have lights outlining our fence and on our shrubs.

Plus some random decorations here and there in the house. I don't think it's over the top, but as I'm thinking about it, I guess we do have quite a bit. It's a very down time of year for me with all the darkness so the sparkly lights are nice. Even if I'm dreading the thought of putting it all away soon.

[Superfluous Parentheses]

Bachelor signing in. Christmas over here isn't as big a deal as in more western parts of the western world, nor as poop-related as the more southern parts (we've got Sinterklaas and his vaguely racist helpers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas) for the kids - like my 3 year old niece - at the 5th of December). No decorations or anything like that for me anyway. I got my chocolate at the 5th, and a nice dinner at my parents' (who actually did have a real decorated tree with real burning candles in it and some miniature baby Jesus cottage) at the 25th.

[CanvasShoes]

The second to the last was the closest to my actual situation, up until this Christmas. My daughter and granddaughter moved in with me about three months ago (the granddaughter is 4). So this year it was all out. In previous years, when I still lived in Anchorage, I decorated when my son came up for Christmas, which was most years, but not at all if he didn't. Decorating usually consisted of just the tree though, with maybe a few other things like stockings.