The ongoing debate about the perfect time for Christmas decorations roams through the Central High community. For some, Christmas starts as soon as Mariah Carey “defrosts” after Halloween, others believe that any holiday should only appear a couple weeks, or even days, before the date. Of course, there are several students and staff who don’t participate in the holiday. Still, whether you celebrate or not, the festive decor around the neighborhoods always lightens the winter holiday spirit.

A recent survey conducted with 16 Parkway Central students through a Google Form, accessed via a QR code, found that 62.5% of students believe that Christmas decorations should appear after Thanksgiving, while only 12.5% prefer to put up their decor right after Halloween.

Sophomore Aditi Deo, who relates with the majority of students in the survey, explains why she prefers to wait until after Thanksgiving to start decorating for Christmas.

“I think when I do the decorations after Thanksgiving, I’m fully moved on from Thanksgiving and I can appreciate Christmas more,” Deo said.

Teachers at Parkway Central also share varied opinions on the debate. Jaclyn Deelo, the Family and Consumer Sciences teacher, agrees with Deo that Christmas shouldn’t make an appearance until Thanksgiving is over.

“Right now it doesn’t feel like it’s super Christmassy yet or holiday-ey yet because we haven’t had Thanksgiving,” Deelo said. “But it’s really fun because I let my kids help put the Christmas stuff up and they’re already getting excited.”

Although Deelo usually doesn’t put her decorations up until after Thanksgiving, this year she had to bend her Christmas traditions due to the late Thanksgiving on the 28th.

“Typically, we wait until the day after Thanksgiving because we have an old tradition where we go get our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving,” Deelo said. “This year, I took all of the Halloween stuff down on Nov. 1st and put up the Christmas stuff, which is way earlier than usual.”

As Mariah Carey’s Christmas hit song “All I Want for Christmas Is You” floods social media and radio, sophomore Kelzi Walls expresses her opinion on the early holiday music.

“I think they should start playing Christmas music after Thanksgiving,” Walls said. “It’s still a little early, but I think it’s funny because people say she’s ‘defrosting.’”

Unlike the others, freshman Charlotte Hardin believes that Christmas decorations should go up before Thanksgiving. For Hardin, decorating is less important than simply celebrating the holiday.

“Decorations should go up mid-November before Thanksgiving because people have plans for both Thanksgiving and Christmas,” Hardin said. “I don’t think it matters when they are set up or if they are set up.”

Christmas, Thanksgiving, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, or Rohatsu—the final months of the year are a special opportunity to unite with friends and family. While the perfect timing for decorating varies among families, the joy and unifying spirits are found in every household.