DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: A few years ago a family moved into the house next to mine. They are a nice couple with two kids.
Advertisement
My only complaint is that they start doing holiday decorations the beginning of October, first for Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and then onto Christmas. They put up a crazy amount of decorations. The husband said it’s because they lived in an apartment for so long he feels like he is making up for lost time with decorating, especially for the kids.
I wouldn’t have a problem with any of this except that starting last year this family began a block decorating competition that everyone except me bought into. I’ve never felt a need to keep up with the Joneses, but all the other houses on the block already went all out with their Halloween decorations this year and I know what’s coming next.
I did do a little more last year for Christmas, but I’m not willing to go for broke on a bunch of new lights and stuff when I have perfectly good decorations already. Eventually I will invest in LED lights, but I’m not looking to do that at a time when everything is so inflated and with two kids in college and work that needs to be done around the house, especially since I like how our place looks with its old incandescent strings of lights.
My wife told me to stop nickel-and-diming and to get onboard with the spirit of the holidays. She says I’m being cheap, but seriously, Thanksgiving decorations? Doesn’t it make more sense to put the money into what we need rather than to compete for a yard sign saying we are the best decorated house on the block? --- WANT TO SPEND WISELY
DEAR WANT TO SPEND WISELY: There’s certainly a trend to put up outdoor displays for even the minor holidays. Some of the ones I’ve seen have been surprisingly elaborate.
Personally, I think your goal of gradually replacing your older incandescent lights with newer more efficient LED options makes sense.
As far as feeling pressured to start decorating for holidays you haven’t put up displays for in the past, I say let your neighbors do what makes them happy and you do what works for you, especially if you’re the one in the family in charge of the outdoor holiday décor.