Yesterday, being the day after Thanksgiving, saw us usher in the Christmas season by spending most of the day setting up the outdoor decorations. Each year we go all out – we have about
*cut*
Here I was going to make a lovely post about how all our hard work paid off because LOOK at the pictures! Our lawn decorations look great this year!
And this morning I went out to count our lighted pieces to see how many we had, only to find that three of them had been vandalized.
Last year we had a piece go missing – but the thief was encouraged to return it when I contacted her mother and advised her to check with her daughter. That night, they came knocking on our door, missing lawn decor in hand and many mea culpas.
When the piece was stolen, I decided I’d never decorate for Christmas again. I was utterly dejected. But then when the teen brought it back, and apologized profusely, I decided maybe we could continue decorating.
Cut to this morning. I’m SO FLIPPING ANGRY right now I can’t even see straight. Whoever decided to have their fun last night ripped three of our pieces out of the ground, tore them apart, and scattered them on the ground. I immediately logged onto Facebook and posted on our neighborhood page that parents need to get their hoodlum teens to stop messing around with other people’s stuff. I also posted that we’ll be installing surveillance cameras TODAY so that we can record anyone that trespasses on our lawn going forward.
I have a feeling we won’t be doing any decorating next year. I’m so over having to worry that something is going to happen to our display.
That’s awful! 🙁
Cameras are a great idea.
Two cameras were installed yesterday and are now recording two views of our front yard 24 hours a day. The DVR they are connected to can record up to 30 days without running out of memory.
Who vandalizes Christmas decorations? Seriously? What is even remotely humorous or funny about that? That’s just pitiful, so sorry to hear that happening, ruins the spirit of the holidays before they’ve barely just begun. Glad you got cameras up, that’s a great idea and hopefully now you can continue on with the rest of the season enjoying your decorations.
Jennifer: Teenagers, that’s who. Thankfully, since installing the cameras AND making it be known that we now had cameras, our stuff has been left alone. Denis and I talked about it and decided that we’re going to take the year off decorating outside the house next year. We’ll still put lights and wreaths out, but not our lawn decorations.
Oh no, I’m sorry to hear this. I know how much you and the family enjoyed making purchases over the years, hunting down bargains in the after Christmas sales to get good deals on your outdoor decorations. That’s too bad the local teens decided to do this. I’m hopeful there will be a happy ending … you never know, it IS the Season….
Don’t let it stop you getting in the Christmas spirit, get out and finish decorating – PLEASE!!!