When are the 12 days of Christmas?

So according to the song... there are "12 days of Christmas", when is the First day of Christmas?

December 12th?  Wrong.

December 13th?  Wrong.

The "First Day of Christmas" is December 25th.  Christmas Day.  The twelfth day of Christmas is a little bit harder to figure out as it differs for different Christian traditions, but the twelfth night is always January 5th, which is immediately followed by the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6th.  The Epiphany is the celebration of the wise men visiting the baby Jesus. Yes... the wise men took a while to get there. They did not show up on Christmas Day/Night as you might think.

I'm not a particuliarly religious person, so I don't know why this bothers me so much... I suspect it's the history buff in me more than anything.

The point is:

1. The Twelve Days of Christmas occur after Christmas day, not before.
2. Don't take down your Christmas tree before New Years... it's still Christmas. Christmas run nearly a full week into January.

For more info:

• Wikipedia -- Twelve Days of Christmas
• Wikipedia -- Epiphany (holiday)