How are we all getting rid of Christmas decorations without causing too much upset?

My 3 year old doesn’t want to get rid of the tree.

I sympathise, if I lived with a tree covered in rainbow lights and sparkly decorations that I lovingly helped create a month earlier I’d be pretty miffed too.

But sorry mate it’s going. Doesn’t help that it will in the front yard for a bit until the charity collectors come and get it, we don’t know what day that’ll be so we can’t leave it up until the last minute.

Have people had more success doing it with them and getting buy in? All our ornaments have stories so we could talk through them as we take them down.

Or maybe we could take it down gradually over a few days to ease him into it, getting rid of the bits and bobs, and then the ornaments, and then the actual tree last?

Or is it best to just rip off the plaster, do it when they’re out and deal with the tantrum when they get home?

He already got upset today that I moved his nutcrackers so I fear it’s going to go down badly either way.