We have all see the people who set up their tree long before Christmas and keep it up for weeks after Christmas is over. I used to think those people where nuts or just flat out lazy, until I became a parent. Now that I am much older and wiser, I have realized that putting up your tree creates a different type of leverage in your household. The little people that run our house run with a new sense of awareness the second that tree pops up and there is talk of the fat man in the red coat that comes to visit them. I highly encourage every parent that is out there to keep this leverage around as long as you can.