It’s been said that fish and houseguests begin to stink after three days’ time. So what then to make of those households and businesses about town that keep firing up the Christmas lights night after night, even as we approach the middle of January? Nothing tarnishes the memory of a party quite like the guest that stays entirely too long.

Even the marketers who keep extending the holiday season by preying on consumers earlier and earlier each autumn have moved on, sensing the well of spirit has pretty much run dry. As has, most likely, the collective patience of those who don’t celebrate Christmas.

Non-Christians who, throughout the holiday build-up, put on a happy face in the midst of blinking lights, dying evergreens and a steady barrage of whimsical music that couldn’t find airplay 11 other months of the year shouldn’t be expected to tolerate the party from which they’re excluded  forever. After beginning earlier each year, must we keep it running later?

Even the excuse that the lights are to be kept on until the so-called Three Wise Men arrive doesn’t hold water, as Christians traditionally mark the arrival of the Magi and their myrrh on Jan. 6.

There’s another expression that stipulates nothing is ever as great as we remember it to be, meaning that with time, the negatives tend to fall by the wayside and we remember the joy and the love and the celebration — leaving us with a desire to return to that Hallmark mindset the same time next year. By holding on too tight and not allowing memories to forge, decorating delinquents are already putting a tacky tarnish on next year’s festivities.

Those determined to invoke the holidays throughout the 2007 calendar would do better to retain the spirit of selflessness rather than approach the world with such a literal reminder.

Take down the lights and stick Christmas ’06 in a stocking.