He Wants to Put Up the Christmas Decorations Now, Just After Halloween, but His Wife Says They Need to Wait Until After Thanksgiving—Readers Voted: When Should Christmas Decorations Go Up?

The haunting shadows of Halloween had barely faded; the pumpkins were still out on the porch. But with the evenings getting darker earlier and earlier, one husband decided it was time for a bit of cheer. So, he set about hanging the Christmas lights.

But when his wife arrived home, according to his account, she only had one thing to say…

The pumpkins are still out!

Story Source/Emotional-Tree-2128 - Reddit

In a post asking readers to choose a side, the husband laid out how the argument had started. According to the husband, his wife expressed wanting Thanksgiving to have its own moment before the Christmas decorations took over. He says she was willing to treat the indoor decorations differently, but considered the exterior of the home to be a display for the whole street.

So, was her stance just based on appearances? I can't help but wonder whether or not her stance is more about how things “appear” externally to the neighbors than anything against the actual decorations themselves. Maybe she was already playing their neighbors' reactions over in her head and was trying to avoid becoming the target of gossip from the busybodies among them. You know how that one goes… “Christmas decorations? Before Thanksgiving?”

To that, my advice is clear: Stop worrying about what other people think and just live your life how you want to live it!

The husband's argument here comes from the stance of wanting to bring a bit of light and cheer to the gloomy, darker months. As he explained in his account of the argument:

It’s dark by five now and everybody’s miserable and I like pulling in and seeing them on.

Though I don't agree with his timing of the decorations, I'm with him there. The darker months definitely need a little bit more light. That's what the holidays are all about, isn't it? Or at least they used to be before all the multiple-month retail sales of the holiday season started taking over… (more on that later.)

But as their argument progressed, each made their stance clearer and firmer. The husband says the lights are staying up and on. He even stated that he refuses to keep the lights “switched off” pending his wife's approval. By his account, neither has given ground, and the disagreement has moved beyond the decorations… as arguments often do. 

Now, locked into a stalemate, the husband has appealed to readers of this Reddit community, "r/PickAorB" to settle the argument once and for all and decide who is going to win out in the argument.

The options he proposed for readers to choose were as follows:

Where do you land on this?

A) Up as soon as Halloween’s over. I’d rather have it up longer.

B) Wait till Thanksgiving’s done. One at a time.

I'll share my own feelings on the matter, then we'll talk a bit about the issue and look at what the readers decided.

What's my take on this? Well, I love Christmas lights.

When I was a kid, the weeks when the Christmas lights were up were some of the most magical times of the year. I used to look forward to it all year long. Not the bare white bulbs, which, in my opinion, belong only on a tree, or the ever starker white LED lights you get today that are as soulless in appearance as they are colorless.

No, I'm talking strings upon strings of the most colorful incandescent bulbs that you could imagine.

As soon as Dad had gotten them up, I'd sleep every night with my venetian blinds pulled up, and I'd fall asleep every night under their warm glow, dreaming in a sea of color. That is, until my parents went to bed and Dad went downstairs into the garage to unplug the old orange extension cord that every string of lights was hooked into. If I was still awake, I'd beg them to keep them on, but was seldom successful… (No wasting power in this house!)

Still, even with my sentiments, I think directly after Halloween is far too early to be hanging the Christmas lights. I think after Thanksgiving leaves plenty of time to enjoy the holidays and get the best out of each part of the season in its own due course.

So, I'd definitely side with the B voters here. 

But what did the rest of the responses have to say?

Well, of the approximately 160 responses on the original thread (that I was able to reasonably analyze), roughly 85 responses, or 53%, voted option B: “Wait until Thanksgiving is done.” 

Only around 17 responders, or 11% of the vote, opted for A, “Start after Halloween," or commented something similar. A surprisingly small number of supporters voicing their support for early decorations.

A great many more had other ideas, either responding with a third option “C” that they decided themselves, or suggesting compromises for the couple, and sometimes even suggesting no decorating at all! 

Finally, around 9 responders, or 5.6% of the vote, gave a response that was unclear or off-topic.

It is worth noting, too, that 4 of the top 5 voted responses also chose “B” cementing it as a clear winner of the options. And the 5th of the top 5 responses? Well, commenter Automatic_Secret_775's view was even more traditional…

C. We put up an Advent wreath for Advent and the Christmas tree on December 24th because Christmas technically runs from December 25 to Epiphany on January 6.

Other advice consisted of using seasonal lighting that was specific to the Thanksgiving holiday, which honestly just sounds like more work and more lights rather than simply “blending” the holiday season together like the husband, the original poster of the story, wanted. 

This was Important-Trifle-411's suggestion:

B. One at a time.

Could you leave up some orange lights or orange and white? That’s giving a little bit of brightness, but it’s a fall color so that would be appropriate to leave up until Thanksgiving.

I’m all for decorating for Christmas when it’s still warm out. But I don’t turn the lights on outside until after Thanksgiving.

Another key responder from the B response group, Certain_Tangelo2329, suggested leaving them up for all of January, which I'm sure would offend a lot of people who feel strongly about taking all Christmas decorations and lights down before New Year's Eve.

B. We just leave it up in January to "get an extra month" in vs putting up a month early

This reader, SeatSix, shared their distaste for most decorations.

C for me, I don't decorate for any holiday, but given your choices, B

I hate Christmas before Thanksgiving

To this, the husband, the original poster, responded:

Lol fair enough. I guess I'm part of the problem you're talking about

Taking photos of your bird for Christmas cards? Well, that is a valid reason to put the decorations up early, as shared by PrincessBella1 who shared how they made their own holiday cards.

A. But that is because I make by own holiday cards with my bird and I need to take pictures early.

All in all, this majority “save it for later” sentiment paints a pretty clear picture of where responders' preferences lie… and it reflects the common sentiment in popular culture of people “fighting back" against the slow encroachment of Christmas earlier and earlier into the year. 

This sentiment is backed by other studies, including a 2024 survey which asked Americans to tell in their own words how they felt about the holiday season. Their analysis of the responses revealed that "People today generally start celebrating the holidays much or somewhat earlier (60%). And nearly half (47%) say that expectations around the holidays have increased either a lot or a little since their childhood." 

Though generally those who push back against the encroachment of Christmas are trying to avoid the stresses they associate with the season for as long as possible, this Harris Poll published by the APA in 2023 found that nine in every 10 U.S. adults surveyed felt “joyous but overwhelmed” about concerns such as money and missing loved ones.

While money itself is a concern for many adults during the season, the earlier push for the holiday season is likely also owed to economic factors. With retailers and brand marketers everywhere looking to “cash in” and maximize sales during the vital holiday sales period, which one paper called “a central component of the retail calendar." But how do you maximize sales during a period that, I think, couldn't possibly handle a single additional sale? Well, simply extend the holiday! By pushing the holiday season out to start earlier and earlier every year. 

While marketers might readily agree with the husband… it seems that very few others who responded to his thread do! So what should he do now? Well, he should probably take the lights down, go out and get a Poinsettia or something to give to her as an apology!