by Marlin Bressi

Created on: December 27, 2008   Last Updated: March 02, 2009

Are you one of those people who leave your Christmas lights on until March? Do you wait until the last needle of your once-majestic Christmas tree has fallen off before you get rid of it? If so, you may be like millions of Americans who have a hard time getting organized after the holidays. You may still be in the holiday spirit, but chances are the rest of your family is waiting for you to take down the stockings over the fireplace and toss out Aunt Mildred's fruitcake.

It is quite easy to be overwhelmed after the holidays. Your nerves are still frazzled from fighting the hen-pecked shoppers at the mall and building a complete animatronic Christmas village on your front lawn. Worst of all, your living room looks like Santa's workshop after a hurricane; toys and tinsel and wrapping paper are strewn all over the place. How do you begin to sort through the wreckage and reclaim your home from holiday madness?

The first thing is to admit to yourself that Christmas is over and that it's time to get back everyday life. This may be painful for those people who like to hold on to the holiday spirit for as long as possible, but it is the first step to making progress. The best place to start is with a large garbage bag. Toss out the plate of stale cookies and the mountains of torn wrapping paper, bubble wrap, and styrofoam packing peanuts that are probably piled next to your tree.

Once all the garbage has been cleared, make sure that your children have taken their toys and presents to their rooms. Once this has been done, you are now ready to get down to business. Before you think about shoving all of your holiday decorations into a box and tucking them away into the attic for next year, consider each one and decide if it's worth keeping. How many times have you stored tinsel and ribbons and bows in a box planning on re-using them, only to buy entirely new ones? If you're like most people, you have a bunch of boxes in your attic filled with junk from previous Christmases. Unless you are abolutely certain that you are going to re-use an item, throw it out.

When taking down outdoor decorations, make sure that they are thoroughly inspected. If your Christmas lights look as though they may not survive for another year, throw them out now instead of waiting until next December. Often, people are so stressed out after the holidays that decorations are carelessly thrown into a box. "I'll worry about it next year," they say to themselves. There's no need to give yourself extra work next Christmas season, so make sure that your decorations and ornaments and lights are all in working condition before they are put away. Make sure that the lights aren't a tangled mess when you put them into a box. It may not seem like a big deal now, but you'll be thankful come next December if everything is neat and organized.

When cleaning up after the holidays, keep in mind that everything doesn't have to be done in a single day. It took a few days to put up all of your Christmas decorations, so naturally it will take a few days to take everything down. To make things easier to locate for your next holiday, make sure all of your boxes are clearly marked. There's nothing more frustrating than opening dozens of cardboard boxes in you garage or attic or basement trying to find a specific item. No matter when or how you decide to organize after the holidays, always keep in mind that the more organized you are this year, the less stress you will have to deal with come next year when it's time to decorate for Christmas all over again.

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