Brit Reacts to British vs. American Christmas-WHICH COUNTRY DOES IT BEST?

[@thealphaak822]

I think we're all observing Lewis slowly transitioning into a proud American. We'll adopt him, love him, and feed him. Especially here in my great state of Georgia.

[@barbparknavy9119]

absolutely!--I already feel like he's one of my nephews!

[@MrsGator7]

@thealphaak822 Hello from Columbus!!

[@Nitehawke]

That was a great spin on "I will love him and feed him and call him George", lol. Props to you!

[@burnslikeice9994]

Also Georgian, and Yes! We will absolutely feed him 'til he can't walk. It's the Southern way. Proof of this is seen twice a year at the Thanksgiving and Christmas family gatherings. The sheer variety of different foods is awe inspiring. Ham, turkey, pork ribs, dressing, mac&cheese, multiple veggie-inclusive casseroles, every pie known to mankind (seemingly), cakes, cookies, appetizers table... And the vast majority is homemade. (Ribs from a local BBQ place that makes 'em fall-off-the-bone awesome.) If someone brings a friend, we don't object 'cause there's always sooooo much food. Now I'm hungry.

[@GodSaveTheUnitedStates]

Speaking for all Alabamians, we'll have him here, as well. He's as red blooded as they come, lol.

[@BeeCuzz6357]

I think Lawrence was more homesick than anything. He wasn't judging fairly. Our food is off the charts for Christmas

[@TexasRose50]

Our food here is always off the charts!

[@jordimoore2167]

San Francisco: Dungeness Crabs!

[@firstjohn3123]

@@jordimoore2167 Whaaaat? Ok, I'm Grinch green. Although I make a killer ham with Cherry/Brown sugar glaze.

[@sues3218]

To be fair, aren't we all. Chrismas is about family. It is nostalgic.

[@sues3218]

Beef Tenderloin is the main course in our house. @@jordimoore2167

[@milemarker301]

Chorus: "Grandma got run over by a reindeer, Walking home from our house Christmas Eve. You may say there's no such thing as Santa, but as for me and Grandpa, we believe." by Da Yuppers (Michigan's Upper Peninsula = U.P. = Yoop = Yoopers). Basically, Grandma had too much eggnog stumbling down the street, and Santa never saw her. lol

[@wesleybush8646]

I don't know if Da Yoopers ever recorded it, but Grandma... was originally recorded by Elmo and Patsy in 1979.

[@jacquelinejohnson9447]

​@wesleybush8646 and then redone by Jeff Foxworthy in the 1980's.

[@misslora3896]

Lived in the Soo way back in 86' & 87'. Never knew that song was from up there in the U.P.

[@deancollins1371]

Verse 1 there's incriminating hoof prints on her back. In verse 2 grandpa is taking it well and watching football. I've always thought there's a hint that grandpa was involved in foul play.

[@tappingthevein1]

I haven't had a white day of any kind in the past 15 or 20 years

[@bobalky3638]

It's tough to describe what a typical American Christmas meal is because there are so many ethnicities in the U.S. I know many people who celebrate with the dishes of their nationality. In our home it was all Slavic soups, entrees and baking from recipes my grandparents brought from Slovakia. With a fire roaring and sometime snow on the ground (live in the Midwest) we had our large meal on Christmas Eve once it was evening, then the kids rushed to get the dishes and cleanup done so we could open our presents, followed by an incredible amount of home baked cookies, cakes, candy and punch. After Christmas morning Mass we played with out presents and did the whole big dinner/desserts routine again. It was everything a child could wish for.

[@Whyamiwatching.01]

Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. I’m Mexican-American so we always make tamales. Pork tamales, bean tamales, tamales de Chile verde, etc.

[@bretcantwell4921]

​@@Whyamiwatching.01I love that you and he have the same yet such wildly different experiences. ❣️

[@lazylady8591]

My area has recently had Romanian immigrants settle who have brought their Christmas traditions with them. It's amazing to think that they retained them even in the face of persecution under the former Soviet regime. They have been generous with the community in sharing their food and traditions to add to our own.

[@monicapdx]

Christmas Eve big dinner, combined food from Dad's Czech/Slovak side, Mom's American. Eat something of every kind at the table before you get up to assure plenty next year, three kinds of pies and a LOT of kolache! 😁 A fire and presents after, yes. Midnight Mass or morning Mass (Santa's gifts in the morning), then the whole extended family to Grandma's for kolache and strudel and gifts for her. (No one was going to ask Grandma to cook, even with help, for 40 or so people.) The rest of the day, as you said, only we were devouring leftovers for the meal. LOL. No snow, but usually rain (Oregon).

[@stevewhiting556]

I’m also from the Midwest. One side of the family was Polish (by marriage), the other was German and Hungarian. We had a strange mix of foods at Christmas. Goulash, polish sausage, ham, paczkis, Kiflis, fruit salad, etc. Then, when I got older, I married into a Greek family. You could have fed the entire island of Mykonos over there. It’s weird to live in the south now. I’ve had an 80° Christmas, but never had snow. I miss it, but I don’t. I never want to touch a snowblower or a snow shovel again, but it doesn’t seem like Christmas unless we’ve had to take out the 4-wheel drive and pull someone out of a ditch.

[@soaringkite2673]

Louis, don’t forget Americans eat turkey for Thanksgiving and usually have so much leftover turkey that many of us prefer another meat for Christmas.

[@brokenfae1296]

This! Some people will do turkey but we are usually turkeyied out by then. Ham is common as is roast beef.

[@cncr2962]

@@brokenfae1296Exactly! Prime Rib, a Crown Roast are often super popular here, but again this is a huge country with many varied regional traditions

[@marydavis5234]

Not all American have turkey for Thanksgiving.

[@stischer47]

@@marydavis5234 Who doesn't?

[@marydavis5234]

Most people from other countries in the US, have their countries tradition food for all Holidays , and none of my family members had turkey for Thanksgiving for the last 20 years, my husbands family is Italian, they have all kinds of pasta, fish dishes for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, American born citizens are not, the only people living in the US.

[@HelloKittyFreak96]

I’m a latina (Mexican-American) so for Christmas my family usually has tamales and ham with lots of sides like rice and bacon wrapped jalapeños and for dessert buñuelos and chocolate abuelita with pan dulce ❤

[@sundeecampbell980]

That tops Euro-American meals, AND it’s VERY American! American Indigenous ingredients DOMINATE Christmas and Thanksgiving. Sorry Brits, but even your turkey is American.

[@firstjohn3123]

Had an Indian lady ask me about Christmas (new to America). Had to explain that no one 'worshipped Santa Claus'...and when it came to food during Thanksgiving & Christmas, she said they were vegetarian. I told her the food type wasn't the important part & to make the food they all liked! It was all good. She was really relieved....🤣So they had an Indian Christmas!

[@reasbey]

Can I come to your house for Christmas? Sounds delicious.

[@nunstersplace]

I live in CA and Mexicans can make the best food out of the simplest of things. I was on a college trip once and my friend brought out plain chips and then a lime. It made those chips a ten. Then he kept on pulling this and that out to be put together and it was amazing meal from a simple backpack.

[@annfrost3323]

Come on, Laurence: -White Christmas -It's the most wonderful day of the year -Have yourself a very Merry Christmas -Sleigh Ride - I'll be home for Christmas -Jingle bells -Santa Claus is coming to town -Winter Wonderland -It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas -Twelve days of Christmas -Frosty the Snowman -We wish you a merry Christmas -Let it snow -I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus -Rudolph the red nose reindeer - Christmas tree Not included religious Christmas music originating in Europe such as: Silent Night, O come all you faithful, Hark the Herald angels sing, Adestes Fidelis, Deck the halls, the first Noel, Angels we have heard, Away in a manger and so on and on...

[@dawnmoore4329]

In our area of the US, prime rib is a pretty typical Christmas dinner, or a baked ham. I grew up in a Eastern European household, so a roasted leg of lamb was standard. All of our Christmas foods are rich and full of flavor. I think we probably use more butter in the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas than we use for the entire rest of the year. Garlic mashed potatoes made richer with the addition of cream cheese to the cream and butter, balsamic glazed roasted Brussell sprouts, green salads with the addition of fruits, a plethora of pies ( pecan, apple-cranberry, spiced pear) or cheesecakes. Do all of the US go crazy with lights? No, but you'll find entire neighborhoods awash in lights and animations. In rural areas, you can spot the decorated houses from miles away at night. We personally have lights on the eaves of the house, garage and barn, along with some llama blowups by the barn and some old fashioned blow molds by the house.

[@patkaiser7177]

A lot of people go way out when decorating their houses. Sometimes it's entire neighborhoods. People drive around to look at the decorations. Sorry but UK does not beat our Christmas food or weather. He's just trying to keep things more even so UK doesn't get angry at him lol

[@BaughbeSauce]

I'm a grinch. I don't decorate the outside of my house. It's too cold, my house is too tall, and it jacks up the electric bill! Lol.

[@Kim-427]

There was something that I noticed in many KZbinrs Christmas shopping hauls. They buy a lot of processed foods for Christmas. In America we do more made from scratch snacks,finger foods,desserts etc. That’s the idea of holiday cooking in America to do homemade for the holidays. Thats not to say that some of us don’t do store bought. We just do majority from scratch.

[@SweetSlytherinGirl-Jennifer]

There are whole neighborhoods that go all out with the decorations, some actually having a literal light show to music that plays on speakers outside. Usually these are the richer neighborhoods, but other places have the all-out decorations, too. My family's tradition is to open one smaller gift on Christmas Eve. My youngest daughter goes to my ex's mother's house on Christmas day, and they have a game where everyone tries to find the pickle ornament in the tree, and the first person to find it gets a special gift.

[@kmbell22]

I never got to play the pickle game but I think it has traction in the US now.

[@JonathanRoberts-mg8ge]

In central Mass where I am, most small towns have at least one house per road like this. And like you said, some whole neighborhoods go wild and compete amongst themselves

[@RonWeb7804]

When I was a kid my mother would bake a birthday cake and my family would sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. That was one of my favorite family traditions. I can only remember one Christmas with no snow and I hated it lol.

[@Aunt-LaLa]

I feel like you would LOVE a tv show called The Great Christmas Light Fight. It's literally two different hosts going around the country and judging elaborate Christmas Light displays. It's BONKERS in the absolute best way! You should look it up online to react to if you can for a Christmas season special. 🎄

[@dianecolozzi2060]

My neighbor was on this show.

[@renee176]

I can't fault Lawrence. Those Christmases you had as a kid will always live with you and will probably be some of your favorite Memories.

[@SwarmerGaming]

Agreed. I had one of the best dinners the year after I moved out of my parents, but it just wasn't Christmas dinner.

[@TwoTitans21]

We just had turkey for our thanksgiving so a Christmas ham is our usual dinner.

[@tonileigh8660]

My traditions included hiking up and down the hills looking for the biggest tree we could find that would fit in the house, cutting it down, strapping it into the back of a truck, and taking it home. To give you an idea, my dining room is 17 ft. wide and the tree usually covered half a wall. Then we'd put it in the tree stand to sit over night. The next day (and it took all day) we'd decorate it; The tree always had a few thousand lights on it. And hundreds of ornaments, mostly antique, finished off with icicles (tinsel, or whatever you call it) put on one at a time. That part took HOURS. Then every surface inside had decorations, and outside, every window, door, tree, bush, and corner of the house had lights This took days to finish. We'd take one night to drive around the neighborhood looking at the decorations. We'd leave homemade cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer and open one gift each on Christmas Eve. We'd be up by 5 a.m. on Christmas morning, my dad would have a cup of coffee and started handing out gifts, but it ended up being a free for all (always included gifts for whatever pets we had at the time). Then we went to my maternal grandparents for dinner. Not exaggerating, she cooked for days in advance, There were FOUR TABLES full of food. Meat included turkey, ham, roast beef, and more. In addition to that, there were 2 tables just for desserts. After that, we'd barely make it to the other room to sit by the tree and open gifts again. We also watched It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol starring Alistair Sim, and the Charlie Brown Christmas every year without fail. And one thing I forgot to add was baking Christmas cookies. One year, my grandmother made 149 dozen and my mom and i together baked 100 dozen. Our whole family had cookies to last into January. Oh, one tradition that started after I became an adult was making homemade egg nog that was equal parts egg nog and Captain Morgan spiced Rum. Yummy!

[@CherylVogler]

You win! 😃

[@pennyportolese6064]

Love this

[@pennyportolese6064]

He also has not watched

[@xo2quilt]

Any chance you would share the recipe for the eggnog??? Tinsel...I kept track of the time it took me to put 2-3 strands on every branch, starting at the trunk...24 hours later it was gorgeous!!!

[@tonileigh8660]

@@xo2quiltthis is the original recipe. My mom and sister don't like bourbon, so I used 2 pints of rum and a cup of brandy. You put it in the jar in the fridge for 2 reasons. First, so the alcohol prevents any bacteria from growing and for the flavors to meld together. I don't own a 2 gallon jar, so I mixed it all in a huge bowl, then divided it into 2-one gallon jars. You can serve it immediately if you don't add the alcohol, but it's much better with it!. Let me warn you, it has quite a kick! INGREDIENTS 12 eggs 1 quart heavy whipping cream 1 quart whole milk 2 cups sugar 1 liter bourbon minus 1 cup 1 pint rum 1 cup brandy pinch salt INSTRUCTIONS Gather 3 bowls. Two should be fairly large for the whipped cream and egg whites. A smaller bowl is fine for the egg yokes. Separate the eggs. Beat egg whites until very stiff. Set aside. To the yolks, add 1 cup of sugar. Beat until very light yellow. Set aside. Wash egg beaters, then use to beat the heavy whipping cream, adding the other cup of sugar until it holds soft peaks. Don’t over beat-cream can turn into butter. In a very large (2 gallon) glass jar, combine the ingredients from the bowls with the milk, booze, and salt. Store in the refrigerator, stirring occasionally for at least one week before serving. Makes a gallon and a half.

[@kkaye76]

Traditions... we leave cookies & milk for Santa & a carrot for reindeer.. we dont do crackers & christmas hats but in some places we do have fireworks. Music.. we have every manner of Christmas music.. i love that Chris Rhea cd.. ive got that cd. He said nostalgia is what got Britain the point. Family... its a great family experience in the USA.. we alwsys got together with all my aunts & uncles, cousins & great grandparents & great aunts & uncles.. i miss those days. Christmas food. In my moms family, our Christmas food was badically Thanksgiving foods. Now in my family we have a brunch with Swedish pancakes with sweetened muscarpone cream, biscuits & gravy, egg casseroles, shrimp cocktail, sausages, french toast & syrup, bagels & cream cheese, donuts, deviled eggs and anything else i can think of to tease the senses. For supper, we usually have a prime rib or standing beef rib with brussels sprouts, roasted potatoes & a green garden salad. 😋 Yummmy! We usually get snow here in NE Ohio on Christmas.. its magical ✨️ Most of us DO want white Christmas... we NEED Christmas. He has to keep the scores even or his British family will disown him. We understand . Lolol America has ALL of the Christmas movies. Do you guys get the old TV specials we get in the USA? Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty The Snowman, The Grinch?? Us oldsters still watch them every year. I think Lawrence is wrong about the Christmas TV specials. Lol. Check out this list of Christmas TV specials in the US!! en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Christmas_television_specials

[@julies634]

Yes, there are entire neighborhoods that go crazy with the lights and decorations. In one neighborhood near our house we spoke with one of the homeowners and he said when they purchased the home it had to be disclosed to them on the sellers paperwork prior to the sale because of the pedestrian and vehicle traffic that is generated. The prior owner included the elaborate decorations with the sale of the house.

[@iviui2d3i2]

In my hometown in Central California, there's about a 2 mile stretch of decorated homes, as well as an accompanying 2 mile long "canopy" of lights that are strung from tall, living, coniferous/pine trees. The free, open (donation driven) festivities begin a bit after Thanksgiving and continue every evening from 6pm to 10pm, until the final run at the end of the night on Christmas Day. There are even some days where NO CARS are allowed to drive upon this stretch of county road during the specified hours, and as such is restricted only to people wanting to go walking down the long stretch without the polluting aura of Car Headlights, Engine Noise, Exhaust Fumes, Loud Car Stereos etc., and just be able to calmly take in all of the scenery without 2 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic moving at 3mph (same as walking speed anyway 🙄). This tradition in my hometown has just recently passed the 100 YEAR ANNIVERSARY of 1920, when the meager beginnings started laying down an organic response from the entire neighborhood community, whom all began to steadily join in on the yearly tradition. A full CENTURY later, and people still will come from so far away sometimes just to see this stretch of Christmas soaked delight. Edit - meant to add that, yes, prospective home buyers here are also informed of the yearly festivities, and likely the personal headaches of those homeowners just wanting to get home from work and dial it down, yet having a months worth of nonstop, proximal activity would likely push me beyond the "All I Want for Christmas, Is You, Mariah Carey, Threshold of Anguish" 😉

[@kathyr2792]

Right. Nothing says Christmas (peace on earth, good will towards men) like harassing an entire neighborhood just so an individual can bask in the attention.

[@julies634]

@@iviui2d3i2 I think you and I may from the same central California town, Fresno!? Christmas Tree Lane off of Van Ness? Yes, it’s spectacular!. Candy Cane Lane, which is an entire neighborhood actually, in Clovis, is closer to where I live so it’s more convenient. I love how the homeowners sell hot chocolate and goodies from their driveways, and are welcoming to us enjoying their decorations. And the horse drawn hayrides! Still a small town feel for an area that’s growing bigger and bigger.

[@DeborahMackey]

Southerners are very nostalgic. Our grandmothers/great grandmothers recipes for biscuits, macaroni & cheese, etc. will always be made for large family holidays. However, we may use other recipes for regular meals. It's about remembering and continuing our family history, even as we move forward. Therefore, we should ALL respect Lawrence for choosing his memories of his Christmas traditions from home as being better.

[@ohslimgoody]

Not only Southerners Yankees are no slouches either.

[@Toucan11]

Doesn’t matter were you live in America, people are nostalgic

[@The_Man_In_Red]

💯

[@DeborahMackey]

@ohslimgoody Too true. I didn't want to speak for other regions. I, personally think Americans in general are very nostalgic and maybe more "protective" of our traditions simply because our history isn't as ...linear...as those from the UK, Europe, Asian, etc. We're almost all a mix of multiple ethnicities. The one thing we all are is Americans. It's our core connection. I think this is why some people find it unusual to see all the flags, hear the national anthem at sporting events and other signs of patriotism. It seems normal to me but I can see why it might be unusual to them. Sorry. Didn't mean to go on & on. This is just my own opinion.

[@Kim-427]

@@ohslimgoodyThank you! Thank you! I get so tired of hearing about southern hospitality and southern this and that! People all over America have great nostalgic traditions passed down as well. And will offer a helping hand. At least where I’m from that’s how it is. I am from Pennsylvania and I have lived in the south for twenty plus years. Everyone from the south is not the come on in type let me feed you. Southerners can be clannish. They can be a little weary of you if they don’t know you especially if you are from the north. They may say “hey” every time they see you but not so quick to invite you in or offer you a ride if they don’t know you. That was my experience in Georgia.

[@danatate8803]

You're such fun to watch with. About a smaller, scaled-down Christmas: I guarantee you'll agree with your mom when the time comes for you to host. It takes days of planning, running around, cooking and cleaning to put on a large holiday gathering 😊

[@CindySylvester]

😂Dana I agree with you. Christmas growing up in my parents house was full of music, food, good cheer & people. Everyone was welcome from family siblings, their husbands & children to extended family members including aunts uncles cousins, neighbors young & old. My mother did this until the year she passed away. Then my sisters & I took yearly turns & wow the work is amazing that goes into this. We decided at the very begining don't ask for a date thst works for all cuz it's not happening. 😂 The hostess picks a date & the invitation is show when you can after 5pm on that date. 😂

[@danatate8803]

@@CindySylvester Truer words were never spoken! Happy Holiday Season, Cindy!

[@CindySylvester]

Thank you Dana Happy Holiday Season to you & your family as well.

[@sherrilehmbeck6920]

I’m the mama bear in a BIG blended family. The more the merrier, right!!?? We gather every Christmas Eve, and open one gift each. It’s always new pajamas to wear to bed that night and wake up Christmas morning in. We try to get matching pajamas. This year there’s 18 😳 EIGHTEEN coming over Christmas Eve and then waking up in our home Christmas morning to open stockings and gifts. We used to buy all the gifts for everyone, just me and my husband, but this year there’s EIGHTEEN of us, (kids are having families of their own now) and that’s a lot of gifts to buy! So we’re playing Dirty Santa Christmas Morning. It’s going to be hilarious!!! Our family has ALL KINDS of humans. Will they open a new toaster oven or will it be a fancy bong??? 🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️ Stay tuned!! 🤣

[@Frankenstiynstudios]

You guys actually have the BEST Christmas story ever written……..A Christmas Carol ❤️

[@cherylcurrie114]

Absolutely!

[@barbparknavy9119]

When I was a kid my folks would pile us all in the car in our pajamas and just drive around the neighborhood to look at the lights...we still have a lot of people decorating but it fluctuates and depends on who has time...some houses though go ALL out and attract crowds every night. My parents also said we couldn't open presents Christmas morning until they had breakfast...which started the tradition of the kids serving our parents breakfast in bed--at 5am!🤣 As for Christmas food...we basically start making and eating fancy holiday food at Thanksgiving and keep making it and eating all the way through to New Year's when we all start our diets! Maybe UK does better on just Christmas Day...but we have at least 3 or 4 Christmas meals between company parties and friends parties and I think you have to take all of that into account when you score it!

[@GodSaveTheUnitedStates]

Wow, sounds just like my childhood.

[@lianecook9437]

My Dad would take the six of us (and dog) on a ride around town on Christmas eve to see lights while my mom stayed home to clean kitchen after supper. When we'd get back later the gifts from Santa would all be under the tree and my mom would be in kitchen with door shut and Christmas music playing. We'd run and ask her about gifts and she'd be so amazed she hadn't heard Santa arrive. Once when there was a snowstorm my dad took us upstairs to a back bedroom to read Christmas stories and my mom put all the presents under the tree and then went outside and rang some bells so we thought we heard the sleigh.

[@barbparknavy9119]

@@lianecook9437 That's so awesome--what great memories!

[@3v068]

I love Lost In The Pond, and because of him, I actually found you. I enjoy your reaction content, you actually add context and stories into your content, and its taught me a lot about the differences between the U.K. and the U.S. Merry Christmas bruv, I hope yours is great.

[@zoeferbrache]

Christmas is wonderful no matter where you are, it comes from the heart,so Merry Christmas to everyone may it be the best ever❄️📯🎁🎄🤗

[@jvdixie]

My family has had Mexican food on Christmas Eve for the last 45 years. (We aren’t of Hispanic descent. )My sisters and I have favorite dishes that we’ve been cooking since before our children were born. We are mixing it up this year and having barbecue. I’m pretty sure our kids are planning a revolt.

[@keylimepie3143]

My family is Italian-American so we do a feast of 7 fishes for Christmas Eve. Then on Christmas day we do Ham. And then a new tradition my family has started for about 4 years so far is to do cheese taste-testing of about half a dozen different cheeses on New Year's Eve.

[@carissadallke1345]

We've done Italian & Mexican for Christmas

[@ScottieRC]

5:25. He meant New Year’s Eve. Christmas lights don’t often come down until New Years.

[@petermoua4583]

here in the states we have something call christmas lane in most of the major cities, which most houses on that street would decorate their houses and most go all out.

[@bluflaam777LSA]

There's a neighborhood just down the street, that has the whole place decorated. For blocks and blocks just lighted decorations. Traditions? We go caroling on Christmas eve. Have a few drinks. Someone reads 'twas the night before Christmas'. If kids are around, we leave out cookies and milk. We watch trains, planes and automobiles on Christmas Day. Big meal.

[@andycofin6983]

I started a new tradition back in the 90’s where I hosted a Christmas party in December before Christmas and everyone was invited, then on Christmas day we had a smaller dinner with just my siblings and dad, and siblings spouses or dates. Present openings were either on Christmas eve, or Christmas breakfast at my sister or nephew’s house. I’d rather go to spread out gatherings like these than big, crazy dinners.

[@jolenewitzel7919]

In Newport Beach, CA., they have a boat parade where not only the boats are magnificently decorated, but the backs of all the houses are decorated. The front of 5he houses are decorated. It's awesome. ❤

[@lynnerussell1440]

I think, "The grass is greener" fits here. Nostalgia takes over and we think it's better or more nostalgic elsewhere.

[@Armedredux]

Growing up I would spend weekends with my dad when my parents split. He was with a woman for about a decade or so. She did her house up so much that there was a Santa for kids to tell what they wanted for Christmas, and someone else that dressed as Frosty the Snowman and danced on the driveway. Every year the news would come out and report from the house a few times at night.

[@carlchiles1047]

We love white christmases…and snowball fights and building snowmen…that part never ever gets old…

[@revgurley]

You want to talk about a culture shock - my family is small - mom, dad, me, and grandma (before she passed). Christmas was subdued, each opening a present in turn while the rest watched. Then I met my now husband. First Christmas at his home was eye-opening. He has lots of cousins, distant cousins, aunts, grandparents, parents. We went to one of the "cousin's" houses, and one huge room was filled to bursting with gifts. We read the story of Jesus's birth, then someone starting yeeting presents across the room to whoever it was for. Complete bedlam. I must've sat there with my mouth agape for several hours. My dad isn't much of a whiskey drinker, so we left out cookies (dad's favorite, oddly, hrm....), milk, and a carrot. One year, I left a note for Santa asking all sorts of demands - draw his house, leave a thumbprint, sign his name. My parents, being as sneaky as I am, went to a neighbor's house to fill it in, so I wouldn't recognize the handwriting and none of my parents' thumbs were stained. They beat me at my own game! (But I was about 6, so they had more experience that I did). You MUST find "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer." It's a classic! kzbin.info/www/bejne/g5isqH-bdrihodk

[@Raggmopp-xl7yf]

My family is like your husbands! Lots of yeeting of gifts with gift wrapping flying into the air! Great fun!

[@tonileigh8660]

My dad actually got one of his friends to climb up on our roof and stomp around on Christmas Eve night. And yeah, that version of Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer is hysterical.

[@mimikannisto4418]

That is the only version I will listen to. I don't recall ever seeing the video before, though. Thanks for sharing.

[@donnadubyak6504]

At my grandma's all the cousins opened presents at the same time. There were 13 of us, paper flying ,gifts being thrown across the room. Everyone had a pile. Fun, fun ,fun.

[@donnaflynn9615]

Watch the vocal band Home Free do a wonderfully funny version of Grandma got Run Over by a Reindeer. Truely funny. They have many beautiful Christmas songs on KZbin Do You Hear what I Hear is fantastic!! Enjoy!

[@ckokkola1]

Christmas foods in America differ so much due to family traditions and culture. My family have fresh hams, a couple of finnish sides as my wife is from Finland, some American sides and some pies and finnish joulutorttu for desert. But others will have Rib roasts, rack of lamb or some other meat. It varies from area to area but also family to family.

[@TheJennX]

I’m offended about the food 😜. Britain went to war and colonized a lot of the world (partly) over obtaining spices. But they don’t even use hardly any spices or flavoring! The US food just hits it out of the park

[@BenandMattGaming]

I agree completely

[@TrevM0nkey]

typical sausage comment from an American who's read a meme but never been to the UK to try the food and only ever tasted it in an British themed restaurant, in America, cooked by an American. Anybody who can cook, or even taste food.... knows that not all food needs to be seasoned. Just watch KZbin videos of American's in the UK trying British food

[@TheJennX]

@@TrevM0nkey I actually lived in the UK for 3 years, so it’s not as if I’m ignorant to the different flavors. It was just a joke my friend, chill out

[@Soccermom1820]

@@TrevM0nkeybeen to UK…the food I’m going to bet no one gets excited about other than someone who grew up eating that stuff

[@TrevM0nkey]

@@Soccermom1820no. The American's who have never eaten it but came here and tried it. Some people are different though.. they've become too used to salt, sugar and preservatives that they struggle with flavour.

[@kiryukaimemorial]

From his descriptions of American traditions, I could tell the family he married into don't do many traditions. My family opened one present each on Christmas eve, then at midnight we go outside to ring a bell (to let Santa know where our house was). Then on Christmas day we open presents in pajamas, call up the extended family to wish everyone Merry Xmas, and started cooking dinner around 10am. After that, you turn on the TV and either put on a family Christmas movie and watch together, or light the fireplace to warm up the house. Extended family showed up while we shared photos, exchanged gifts, and drank eggnog, then we open gifts together around the fireplace while playing board games. Also he left out stockings over the fireplace, a visit to Santa at the mall or department store, making snow angels and snowmen, and paid vacation days from work/2 weeks off from school. So much left out it was painful to hear his blase' description.

[@TrevM0nkey]

your first pargraph was how your family does it, so not something he experiences. Your second paragraph is something we also do in the UK, so it was left out from both as it's not unique to either

[@lynnerose-f9c]

In some places it is not just a few houses but whole blocks go over the top and all out. When my kids were little we used to walk or drive through Christmas Tree Lane in Ceres California. May be small to others around other places but quite beautiful!

[@bethlovcy1276]

Many times have we done Christmas Tree Lane in Ceres. Lived there for over 20 years. Huge tradition back then with the Santa strolling around handing out candy canes.

[@BaughbeSauce]

I GREW UP IN CERES AND THEN MODESTO!!! I grew up going to see Christmas tree lane, too! It is legendary. I live here in Iowa now and I've seen NOTHING like that here. They do have a lights thing at the Old Threshers fairground, though. I think it's better when it's actual houses and yards that are decorated instead of just... standalone display things. It's nice and all. Just not magical.

[@SpanishPeanut]

This is a great reaction! Christmas is a time when I miss my eldest brother in law the most other than football season, (RIP). He was a med evac helicopter pilot. When he was able to, he liked to fly his helicopter over neighborhoods to see the lights from above. I always wanted to go with him, I love looking at them too. However, he was diagnosed with colon cancer and was grounded. Thank you for taking the time to react to this. BTW, some people decorate their houses to match music of their favorite songs. It’s really cool!!

[@audreyslivinglife]

You can't really rate things that are personal preferences. Something like the lights are easy to be compared because they are not based on nostalgia. Christmas is done the best wherever you feel the happiest. Merry Christmas all.

[@Sandy-z8x]

We have Christmas in July to order stuff for Christmas deals lol

[@eleveneleven11114]

We do a seafood boil on Xmas eve. Not sure if that’s traditional. We live in SE Texas. On Xmas day we usually have fancy beef like prime rib or tenderloin b/c we’ve just had our fill of turkey a month before on Thanksgiving 😂

[@emmef7970]

We feel the same about having turkey again so close together. Were still eating turkey leftovers which happens every year. So, we are ready for Christmas dinner, both prime rib and ham. That seafood boil sounds wonderful too. Happy Holidays!

[@Therogueone2103]

There’s a show here in America that dedicated to amazing Christmas lights and decorations on houses, it called the Great Christmas Light Fight, and some of those houses are crazy, it’s something that you should watch and maybe even react to if you like those decorations

[@Rob-q2e]

The more people you have for Christmas , the more fun you have 🎉🎉🎉

[@tanyaammons5887]

In Texas. So our Christmas Eve tradition is letting kids have 1 present (their new pj's usually with cocoa mix and mug), then we drive around to see the Christmas lights in our neighborhood. Some years we've had lots of family over for Christmas and some years it's been smaller. We usually make a good-sized smoked turkey and a small honey ham. Makes everyone happy and lots of ways to eat leftover meat afterward. The sides can vary.

[@amyhyde70]

I’ll bet England has a way better time at Christmas. The Christmas crackers?!! I WANT SOME!!! Your food sounds awesome! Fun vid💥

[@cherynebillingsley6628]

The decorations is one of the bigger and more fun things about Christmas. Near where I live, the mayor of the town actually puts on a huge display where you can park out side their house, turn your radio station to one they set up, and watch giant inflatables put on a show. They sing and the entirety of their house is a part of it. It's huge.

[@danabooth5859]

My favorite Christmas was 1979 at sea in The Gulf of Oman, the brotherhood of a bunch of regular guys who miss their families is indescribable.

[@april8293]

In my neighborhood, we have at least 1 house per block that is decorated like that. We also have a 3 county interactive map on the web that shows were all the REALLY big light displays are. To be listed on the map your display must have at least 20,000 lights. The biggest displays are whole streets with anamotronics, Santa and Ms. Claus, live nativity scenes (with barm animals), food and drinks, and drive thru arches of lights. These type of displays have 100,000 plus lights. They are amazing.

[@zendoll1]

I live near Chicago so we usually have a White Christmas, but one Christmas is not better than the other. I think it depends on what each individual loves.I think it is our own personal nostalgia that colors our view.

[@jillollipop2978]

I grew up in south central Pennsylvania and our white Christmases were hit or miss, but there were definitely more of them back then. The last white Christmas I saw was in Sedona, AZ, in 2007 maybe? It was so beautiful, the red rocks and fir trees flocked with snow. My parents moved to central Florida in 1987, and while home from college for the holidays in 1988 or '89, we woke up on Christmas morning to a dusting of snow on the ground! In Sarasota! We went to Epcot for the day and the fountain at the entrance was frozen.

[@brianmurphy8811]

Turkey is often set aside for something else on Christmas, because of it's proximity with Thanksgiving, where Turkey is absolutely a staple. We typically get a Standing Rib Roast for Christmas (you can't make Yorkshire pudding with Turkey drippings, and we love Yorkshire pudding here).

[@Erica-ls7bp]

Same, we do beef and seafood for Xmas dinner.

[@shannonhamlin4938]

Celebrating Christmas with my Midwest based family, we would all go to my Grandparents house Christmas Eve. My Grandma made some dishes, but everyone else brought a dish, mainly finger foods, snacks, dips, maybe a casserole. All my extended family would come over for a couple hours. So at any given time there were 20-50 people in the house, including kids. It was the chaos of that day I loved the most.

[@allengator1914]

There are plenty of videos that show the extravagant Christmas decorations people put on their houses. Some of the light displays that are timed to music are spectacular.

[@lesliewilhelm5319]

I used to live in Northern Michigan and we always had a white christmas, lots of snow! We now live in Atlanta, Ga and we never have a white Christmas and I miss looking out the window and seeing it snow! When I was a kid our grand parents and aunt would come to our house and there was tons of cookies, the adults had spiked egg nog and made all kinds of fancy snacks in the evening, Christmas day we opened gifts.

[@MikeNobody]

The UK seems to do TV specials more consistently. All the best American ones that I remember were made 40-60 years ago. We just don't make 'em that often anymore. But, we are killing it on Christmas movies and music.

[@misslora3896]

As a child in the 70's we waited anxiously every yr to get to see, Rudolph, Santa Claus is Comin to Town, Frosty the Snowman, How the Grinch Stole Christman, Charlie Brown Christmas etc. I think it kinda took some of the nastalgic fun out of it once you could get them on video and dvd. My parents would set up a roll away bed in the living room for us to lay down and watch each one when we were little because we'd usually fall asleep before the end. It was fun to wake up in the living room in the middle of the night to the lights from the Christmas tree.

[@OkiePeg411]

​@misslora3896 I've thought so too! We would get the tv guide and search each week for when all the Christmas movies and cartoons would finally come on! My dad would even make caramel popcorn, like...really, on the stove and make the caramel like drizzle. We'd all watch the movies together with the Christmas tree shinning in the livingroom. We only ever had a small black and white TV growing up, but we didn't know any different.

[@marydavis5234]

I recently watched Candy Lane Christmas, it’s a new Christmas movie, starring Eddy Murphy.

[@BaughbeSauce]

One of the best Christmas movies. Watch it. Santa Claus vs The Martians

[@bookwoman53]

My dad used to go all out with lots of lights on the house and some decorations on the lawn. I sing in the church choir so we are singing at Midnight Mass. We start at 11:30 before the actual church service. This year we are doing a couple of pieces from Handel’s Messiah, a Bach cantata & Christmas Lullaby by British composer John Rutter (our music director is a big fan).

[@RevPeterTrabaris]

Lewis, most of the U.S. does not get snow. I think that we love the Christmas that we know, and that is as it should be. Depending on whose house you go to, if you go anywhere, you may get "crackers" if it is there tradition, or they like it and are trying to spread the tradition. The food really does depend on the individual and or family. I was raised in a Greek household. My favorite Christmas Dinner is roast leg of lamb and spaghetti with Greek Salad. And, with friends I have experienced Italian, Norwegian, German, Spanish and Carribbean when I lived for a time on the Island of St. Thomas. I just put my Christmas Tree up today, I was thinking about you and your love of Christmas when I did. Like you, I love Christmas, actually from Thanksgiving through New Years and beyond. I usually keep my tree up until February. We used to put egg not and Greek cookies out for Santa Claus with a carrot for the reindeer. These days, I am usually alone. Most of my family are gone now. But I still do Christmas and try to use my social media account (FB) to spread happiness and love, because, after all, that's what it is really about, isn't it? Peace

[@eianfederle2715]

Not sure what you mean by "most of the US not getting snow". Pretty much the northern part of the lower 48 and all of Alaska gets snow in the winter so I'd argue that its 50/50

[@sabrinamassie5606]

At least half of the country has a pretty good shot of a White Christmas ...

[@jdanon203]

@@eianfederle2715 Hell even Hawaii gets snow. There are very few states that are completely shut out from snow. Florida might be the only one.

[@wizloon9052]

Most of the U.S. DOES INDEED get snow. Apparently, you live in Hawaii. Even Florida occasionally gets snow.

[@Kim-J312]

I live Chicago area most my life , only had a few "green Christmases🌲" ugh it was depressing. Got to be snow ❄️ covered Nov thru March ❤ especially Christmas 🎄

[@feralon9570]

We do turkey for Thanksgiving.. So I usually do ham and roast beef for christmas.

[@bryanlynch3623]

I get why he gave the UK the win in the weather. Where he lives in the US, winter sucks! As beautiful as a white Christmas is, I am glad I live in the south where a white Christmas is a rare treat.I love the snow. I love skiing and snowmobile riding. I could never live where you have to deal with snow all the time.

[@dking1836]

We have "white Christmases" too... we go to the beach. Southern California is usually too warm for snow. San Diego DID get snow in 1967, but in the suburbs, not at the airport's official weather station (which is close to San Diego Bay)... that tiny flakes of snow melted on contact with anything other than grass... and it wasn't even Christmas week. Canadians would have called it a 'skiff' of snow. And as others pointed out, we have turkey for Thanksgiving almost a month ahead of Christmas. Not uncommon to have both turkey and ham on the table here. Congratulations, you have some GREAT reactions!

[@georgemetz7277]

Our Christmas crackers typically have cheese on them. Or a dip, preferably from a gift basket that someone sent. I wouldn't have even known about the so-called crackers (and hats, and jokes) if not for Doctor Who Christmas shows. I would give you the Tradition point but take the Specials point. Doctor Who aside, EVERYTHING here has a Christmas special, from comedies, dramas, to even The Walking Dead.

[@11C1P]

They are talking about crackers kind of like firecrackers, not the kind you put cheese on.

[@louisethurlow3948]

I'm 1 of 6 kids, we weren't well off financially but I wouldn't change my childhood Christmases for anything. We kids would take our toboggan(a former Chritmas gift) out into the back field & find a Christmas tree to cut down & drag home. Some years the snow would be so deep I'd have to ride on the taboggan, being the 2nd youngest & short. On Christmas eve we'd get to watch a Christmas special have some hot cocoa, leave the traditional milk & cookies for Santa & carrots for the reindeer. When we went to bed the only presents under the tree were the ones we were giving to each other. Then my mom & dad stayed up most of the night wrapping & putting things together. In the morning we couldn't get out of bed til 6am and we'd all creep downstairs in the mostly dark & the tree would look like it was spilling presents out of it! They always left 1 gift for each of us unwrapped, so we'd run around reading the tags. Then we would take our stockings up to one of the bedrooms, usually my sister's & my room as my brothers were slobs. We would open them together, go eat cereal & wait for my mom to get up. She'd turn the radio on to Christmas music and we'd open the gifts under the tree. Later in the afternoon we would go to my grandparent's farm(my mom's side) & have our Christmas meal. My mom was 1 of 10 kids & they'd all bring food & we'd have a feast. When my grandmother past away at the age of 92 she had over 300 grandkids, great grandkids, great great grandkids. We still get together but now it's just with the branch my parent's built. Oh and Laurence's voting was rigged!! We all know it was 7-1 USA (I'm giving him the soap opera one as I don't watch much tv) Merry Christmas! God Bless!!

[@DireWolfDIW]

I'm in central Ohio, and we very rarely have a white Christmas. It usually isn't snowy until after December is over. Sometimes we get ice storms that make travel extremely dangerous. Sometimes its just unreasonably cold. Sometimes its warm. I remember one year it was so warm that it felt like spring, and a couple of years where it's been well below freezing. Most of us want a white Christmas, but we want the nice fluffy snow that isn't too dangerous to travel in. Not wet, icy slush.

[@DonnaDavisArt]

I LOVE turkey, but we almost never do turkey on Christmas as we're pretty much full of it thanks to our American Thanksgiving (I just ate Turkey soup tonight and had stuffing/dressing omelet this morning with cranberries) So, our usual New England Christmas is either Goose or Beef wellington and usually a seafood dish. I love it when it's Lobster! but we always have oyster stuffing/dressing (in the turkey on Thanksgiving and in a goose or on the side if it's wellington on Christmas). We DO Christmas crackers here in New England. I think it might be due to so many of our shops selling them at Christmas time and of course wear the little paper crowns , tell the corny jokes and usually covet one another's little trinkets. We rarely have White Christmas in my area of New England (Cape Cod) but we've gone to NH (where we ski) for Christmas before and it's always a White Christmas there (usually) I've also been in UK for a few Christmas and I LOVE English Winters !! Well, the South East, where I usually go, has great Winter weather, it's like our Spring. There is something magical getting up on Christmas morning in a small English village and the grass is frosted white with magical morning frost and walking thru an ancient churchyard, wandering bridle paths through sheep dotted fields. For me, I love both American (Well my New England anyway) as well as English Christmas! I do think English cities do better large scale deco (I've been in London over Christmas and the shops are Amazing!). I'm a happy Anglophile and a proud American all rolled into one!

[@LyndaEiche]

US traditions on Christmas: - putting out milk and cookies for Santa - reading Twas the Night Before Christmas before bedtime - Elf on the shelf - Advent calendars - Midnight mass on Christmas Eve - Christmas breakfast/brunch with family

[@barbparknavy9119]

we used to put out milk & cookies for Santa--til my Dad convinced us kids that Santa would be sick of cookies by the time he got to our house--and what he'd REALLY want is pizza & beer! 🤣

[@muziklvr1973]

Where I'm from here in the U.S., we have a car dealership that does a light show to music....and yes, there is a radio station you can listen to the music and watch the lights. There used to be a neighborhood where everyone drove through two streets to look at all the houses on the blocks and look at the lights....it was awesome.

[@kihyahouston387]

For context, we obviously have regular Christmas songs, but grandma got ran over by a reindeer is specifically for children and it comes from a movie called Grandma got run over by a reindeer. It’s actually a fun little movie that we watched every year for Christmas.

[@corvus1374]

The song came out before the movie did

[@kihyahouston387]

@@corvus1374 oh wow very interesting! I figured it was the other way around because growing up I didn’t hear until the movie came out

[@donkeywithascarf2435]

There is a small neighborhood near my house that goes absolutely feral when Christmas comes around. People gather by the hundreds just to drive around and look at their decorated houses. They even decorate the lake near their neighborhood. One house has Christmas music playing on loop for an hour.

[@janeywebb8342]

I usually don’t want a lot a people around but at Christmas and other holidays I like having lots of my extended family around because it’s all about family for me and too catch up with everyone. I usually make a traditional meal with a tenderloin roast with all the sides, but this year I’m going with a Mexican theme meal cuz I am Mexican American . My husband is Caucasian but he loves Mexican meal as do my 4 sons. So tamales and all other fixings for all of us !

[@cherylcurrie114]

An average Christmas includes decorations, riding around to see neighboring decorations or even decoration contests. Buy and decorate the tree, all this about a week before and after Dec 25. Presents for kids and immediate family go under the tree. Cookies and milk are left out for Santa. On Christmas day, in no particular order: church, large dinner, Christmas movies and music, fireplace, roasted chestnuts, fruit and nut snack bowls, opening presents, videoing and sharing, phone calls to those not there, volunteering to feed the hungry, Santa hats or antlers but not party hats, mince pie went bye-bye in the 50s replaced with pecan pie.

[@MaxxGoodman1954]

America has definitely left the UK in the dust! You can't go anywhere without seeing Christmas lights on houses, in parks, down main streets, everywhere. Usually I haven't seen anyone except maybe one or two of my friends that like mince pie. I love it myself but I also like fruitcakes. If you were to go shopping anywhere during the Christmas season you will hear nothing but Christmas music. It's even piped into restrooms. Christmas is a very big deal here. Anything and everything that has to do with Christmas is all over the place here.

[@marydavis5234]

All radio stations in my area of Vermont, started played Christmas music , two weeks before Thanksgiving.

[@TrevM0nkey]

everything you mentioned there, is also done in the UK.

[@MaxxGoodman1954]

@@TrevM0nkey Not according to Lewis.

[@easein]

Traditionally my family either had prime rib or spiral ham for Christmas dinner. Christmas Eve dinner was piles of Dungeness crab. In years we don't have lots of family, we do the Crab for Christmas Dinner. Home made tamales are always somewhere lurking between Thanksgiving and New Years. A pick-up trucks worth. Bless you all and pray for a better year than the last three!!

[@libradragon934]

Ive spent Christmas in Florida. The decorated house you saw at the beginning of this, is Quite common over there and everyone has lights on their house. The best thing though, is, when you get to a house decorated like this, they'll have a sign up, telling you to tune the radio to a frequency and when you do, the lights will do a display to the song that they have playing! It's brilliant and crazy! If you go to the Disney Town, Celebration (yes, that's it's name) it "snow's" every hour on the hour, in the main high street! And don't get me started on Disney itself, you can only imagine!

[@wadepackard9730]

I grew up in Wisconsin so practically every Christmas was white and even as an adult, while snow isn't always welcome, I think snow on Christmas is always pretty special. Living in California now, I do miss the nostalgia of a white Christmas. On a side note, two of my favorite Christmas movies are British - "Love, Actually" and "Last Christmas." Merry Christmas, Lewis!

[@Deedric_Kee]

Christmas time is wonderful. Warm oatmeal cookies and Hot chocolate wrapping up in covers and watching movies.

[@jimwilcox2964]

Christmas eve was always gramdmas house out of town about 90 miles. Easily 30 - 40 people. With farmers involved, always started after evening chores were done. So supper around 7pm. Never enough chairs so the bridge planks ( 2x10s maybe 10 ft long) came out for the mens and kids tables. So those used 8 chairs, the women got the rest. Santa came around 9, everybody got 1 gift. Proabably go to about 11. Christmas day was just family.

[@whatever1210]

in my neighborhood there's a house that does the lights show with a sound track on the radio. grandma got run over by a reindeer is a comedic take on a christmas song and yes when it comes on many who love the song sing along. yeah i am in utah we get snow almost every winter we had a big snow fall like a week ago and a light snowfall this morning. its so cold and wet and difficult to shovel half the time. its pretty but cold.

[@CrazyAF_Gemini]

My sister (4 yrs younger) and I would wait with anticipation to hear Johnny Mathis's Winter Wonderland. Then, we had enormous stockings full of the best trinkets. We also each had a "Christmas Bowl" full of fruit and candy. That tradition we supposedly adapted from the Dutch shoe as our ancestors had done. We also were given one gift on Christmas Eve, which was/is always new pajamas. I also LOVE Christmas 🎄

[@neonjinn]

I can only speak for myself, but my favorite part of winter is the snow; & growing up in PA I loved a 'White Christmas' cause it made all the decorations that much more enjoyable/beautiful. I remember after moving to Missouri where 2 Christmases in a row there was no snow & I felt so sad about it (even more disappointed when I moved to Wisconsin & also had no snow Christmases). Nowadays, snow is harder to get (or it comes at the wrong time), so it's become very nostalgic for me to see snow on/around Christmas.

[@ThatoneGuy-zd4rl]

Lots of things about this video to say - but I’ll go to the weather angle. Pretty much everywhere up north it’s a white Christmas. There is something magical about it. But also if you don’t much care for the cold - it never snows down south. I live in FL so often Christmas is maybe just a little chilly - but if I wanted to see snow I’d go visit relatives up north (which is quite easy to do for the holidays). We have the best of both worlds.

[@JADEGATETIGRESS]

We have friends who reside in the town of WINDCREST, TEXAS, USA.The Entire city, (for the most part), lights up from the Friday following Thanksgiving Day, USA, until the Sunday following New Year's Day. In fact, A few years ago this annual event, which has gone on for decades, was nationally televised on a program that highlights such goings-on. I have been WINDCREST at Christmas, and it is Spectacular!

[@sues3218]

Outdoor Christmas decorations usually go up sometime after Thanksgiving, and stay up until after New Years. When it takes you a while to decorate the yard, you tend to keep it up for a while.

[@PriscillaV1964]

Weather: You have better Christmas weather. You might not have a reliably white Christmas weather, but you do have Winter weather throughout. Our weather varies from arctic to tropical depending on where you are. So we put less stock in having snow.

[@MichaelC-ke4ms]

Here in Pittsburgh, PA we rarely have a white Christmas. A typical winter is mild weather until New Years, then January through March we get blasted. Last winter was an exception, we didn't get much snow all winter.

[@lauraweiss7875]

There are over-the-top decorated houses all over my neighborhood. Some folks have large outdoor speakers that play a pre-programmed song list that is in sync with the lights.

[@BaughbeSauce]

My family Christmas traditions growing up were largely food related. We would have prime rib or game hens for Christmas eve dinner, then a dessert like a Christmas cake or Yule log with cookies, cocoa, mudslides, nog, cider, etc, and ended by opening one present (always Christmas pajamas). and then in the morning mom made Aebelskivers (little round Danish pancakes stuffed with apple chunks and covered in jam and powdered sugar) with eggs, sausage, and fresh fruit. We USED to get an ostrich egg or a couple of emu eggs for breakfast as well, but when the ostrich farm closed up we stopped. One ostrich egg contains about a quart of egg. So one would generally be enough for everyone. It was usually a group of about 12 people (more after my sister had kids) and almost everyone would stay over Christmas eve. After breakfast we did presents with coffee or cocoa and eating cookies and other treats. One kid wears the Santa hat and distributes presents evenly so each person opens a present close to the same time. We then go enjoy some presents, eat leftovers for lunch or just snack on treats and eat potato chips with garlic dip. Then dinner is generally ham and enchiladas. Both dinners have family classic side dishes like deviled eggs, shrimp salad, and French bread (my great grandma's recipe) or garlic bread, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, etc. The ham is often for me as I can't eat the enchiladas when my grandma would make them (allergic to one of the spices she wouldn't not use). It depends on where you are for a white Christmas. Now that I live in Iowa I sometimes get a white Christmas. But at my house in California? Never. My grandparents lived an hour away in the hills and they got white Christmases, though. So as a kid Christmas at their house was sometimes a white Christmas.

[@horseygirl645]

In the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas there are entire neighborhoods where every house is completely decorated outside for Christmas. They even talk about the various locations on the local news and in some areas the amount of vehicles driving through is so large they actually have the police directing traffic. My mom, dad, brother, and I would open our gifts at home Christmas morning and then we would all go to my grandparents for Christmas with all of the rest of our family. I have 7 cousins, I’m the youngest, so as a kid going to my grandparents for Christmas was always a big deal. As adult, there are now kids and grandkids so the holidays are still pretty lively. I love it!!! Being in the part Texas where I am, we have had a few white Christmas’, but we don’t usually get snow until January’s or February and even then it’s rarely snow … usually ice. One year, I had 4 inches of ice on my patio. My whole neighborhood was completely iced over. The last one white Christmas we had occurred a few days before my great-niece turned a year old. It snowed for a couple of hours. That was 11 years ago. 😁 As a kid we would set out cookies and milk and a carrot or two on Christmas eve. The only two people in the family that ate minced meat pie was my grandfather and my mom. It was my grandfather’s favorite so my mom always made sure that he had his pie. Everyone else ate either pumpkin pie or apple pie. The kids had lots of cookies and candy to eat. My favorite is pecan pie, Yum! Pecan pie can also include adding Jack Daniel’s whiskey to the filling. The alcohol gets greatly reduced during baking so only the flavor of the whiskey is left. Soooo good!!

[@NJDulaney]

We have Turkey at Thanksgiving, just a month before Christmas. So for this reason many family's chose something different . Our family has both Turkey and ham at Christmas. Hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas.

[@mr.grimmlynn8125]

A white Christmas, depending on where you live, means extreme cold weather! Which once you’ve experienced extreme cold weather. You definitely will change your mind. Hey, I live in New England, Massachusetts. And seeing the leaves change colors in the fall is a major attraction, however, it’s also a sign that the weather is getting cold & colder. There’s nothing good about needing to dress 😢yourself in layers to go outside.

[@JJ-vt7sh]

When I was a kid I loved white Christmases. We get snow on and off all winter so I don’t care any more. I don’t want big storms because then you spend all of Christmas shoveling and keeping the walks and driveways clear. We will often have snow on the ground on Christmas but it is very often gray snow from traffic driving through it so much, so unless you get at least a skiff of snow on Christmas it looks pretty ugly.

[@regeniatipton1930]

Hi Lewis! I live in East Tennessee. I live in the mountains, and we occasionally have a white Christmas. In 2020 we had a snowstorm that started late in the day on Christmas Eve that left us with over 8" of snow. We lost power and were out of power for 6 days. Cooking the Christmas meal with our small generator was a disaster. You could either run the space heater to try and stay warm or run the stove to cook. Lol! It was the worst meal I've ever cooked, but we didn't starve. We mostly stayed in our beds piled with cover.😂 We usually get enough snow at least once every winter so we are out of power for at least 6 days.

[@GentleRain21]

Around here, you get together and drive around looking at Christmas lights before or right after Christmas. Some neighborhoods have all houses decorated, usually extremely tastefully, so its like an elegant theme park.

[@d.francescovalls9321]

Man, that bloke needs to experience the glory that is the San Francisco classic crab Christmas dinner.

[@Victoriant1]

Those Christmas houses are very standard, in a street with 10 houses you'll have say 4 with major lights like that, 3 with more clasily done yet major decor and lights, 2 with just a little splash of outside lights and 1 with nothing. Then you go drive around your neighborhood at night with the whole family in the car to see all your neighbors lights (it's a tradition). It's one of those things you do absolutely every Christmas. My husband makes me start decorating right after Halloween lol. Also, we do a glass of milk and homemade Christmas cookies for Santa along with a thank you note. Everyone wearing designated pajamas for Christmas morning is a huge tradition here too. I have to figure out a new pajama theme for everyone every year.

[@flyingfiddler90q]

2:16 Not every house is lit up like that, but it's not rare either. There's usually at least one like that in every neighborhood...

[@ldy.darkhorse9800]

Turkey is a staple of Thanksgiving. So since we “just had it” for “Turkey Day” (American Slang for Thanksgiving) many will do something different for Christmas. Although a lot of people will still do a turkey… Many will do a Christmas Ham, or Christmas Goose, etc. As to what we leave out for Santa. It’s pretty much a standard to do cookies and milk. The lights are definitely a thing. No matter how poor you are.. The likelihood you went all out on your house/yard is pretty high. We definitely go crazy with exterior home decorations. We even have “home owners associations” where in your house purchase contract it states what you can and can’t do for Christmas decorations. Some even go as far as having “approved layouts and colors” that must be followed.

[@AlmaPerry]

We give/get new pajamas on Christmas Eve as we gather with extended family at my mom's. My house is definitely a super lit house. RGB LEDs EVERYWHERE! The other houses on my street aren't as lit, but they still have lots of lights and decorations. Christmas day is spent playing video games and watching movies with my kids. A BIG breakfast. Family comes over to our house for dinner. You can have my white Christmas! One year, it snowed 2 feet on Christmas day. We had to dig all the cars out so they could go home!

[@wargame2play]

My Grandad would get the tree , put it up and decorate it with all the presents under it in the living room . We had a set of wooden pocket doors from the entry and the whole family would gather for the “ reveal “. Also we would attend Midnight Mass . Generally there would also be a big breakfast and neighbors and family would visit during the day with a big dinner in the early evening.