Big as possible. It went up just after Thanksgiving and stayed up ’til New Year’s. That’s as long as it lasted as it was always near the fireplace, which got a lot of use during Iowa winters. I think I had one friend whose family opted for that silver tree with the lights, and I was mortified at the unnaturalness of the whole thing. 
Later on: My ex’s bday was March 30. He insisted ALL the Xmas decorations had to stay up until after that day. Yes, FOUR MONTHS! One year, my mum came down to FL for Xmas and suggested one day we could be productive and pack everything up for the new year. He came home after work and threw a tantrum.
Just one of the many reasons I should’ve jettisoned him early on. All that tinsel and garlands and crap everywhere just got oppressive, and I just grew to despise the holiday. (He’s also the reason I recognized the orange bawbag’s malignant narcissism before anyone else.)
The only tree we’ve had up since was the Charlie Brown tree that my son won at work one year—tiny fake tree with just the one red bulb and Linus’ blue blanket at the bottom. Seemed a fitting symbol for what we’d been subjected to for too long (23 years!) Now, even the kids couldn’t care less about Xmas—and since we’re all poor and don’t need more clutter to move around with, we pretty much skip holidays in general, except for the big family dinner.
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