Do Americans really decorate .....

[BeaLola]

Every room and outside at Christmas ir is it just in the cheesy Christmas films currently on Netflix and the like ? I mean poinsettias and wreaths in the kitchen and huge displays outside ? In many ways it's amazing but is it just in the films ????

I agree with the increasing anti American bashing threads on MN but this isn’t that bad actually and I think the OP was genuinely curious not trying to bash but yeah there are those that are just to creating bashing posts.

I follow some American Youtubers including some popular ones like MinimalistMom... now the clue might be in the name but they dont decorate that much at all.

Other social media ones seem to go ALL out but Im guessing thats the whole 'instagram' thing rather than standard reality.

I'm sure average americans fall in the middle somewhere.

What I wont to know is do American kids really get forced to kill and disect animals in science class at school even if they are morally opposed or else fail high school?

Its such a common trope on American TV that it must have some basis in truth but who the fuck would force kids to do something so barbaric?

I did a medical and science degrees and never killed and disected animals (I have worked with hearts and kidney tissue etc... but I never had to slaughter something then butcher the corpse in the lab).

American TV is just wierd lol.

What I wont to know is do American kids really get forced to kill and disect animals in science class at school even if they are morally opposed or else fail high school?

Ive never heard of anyone forced to kill anything! But you don’t do dissections in UK secondary?

America loves Christmas. Decorating the house insidee and out, making gingerbread cookies and houses, beautiful gift wrapping are all part of the build up in all my memories of US childhood Christmases. Part of this must be the influence of 19th century German immigration.

In my experience what you see in American films isn't exaggerated.

Oh, and yes, we keep the decorations. We gift new ones each year but many are heirlooms.

What I wont to know is do American kids really get forced to kill and disect animals in science class at school even if they are morally opposed or else fail high school?

I'm sorry but what television are you watching?!
No, no one kills anything in science class at school. It's the same as in the UK - if a student is taking a sufficiently advanced level of biology then a dissection might form a part of the curriculum but students are generally allowed to opt out and submit an alternative assignment instead.

Can I ask about Christmas Cookies - seen lots of references to people making and decorating cookies and giving them to friends and neighbours - is this a thing? If not, blame Barefoot Contessa and the Pioneer Woman . I also love the bundt cakes and very fancy cake moulds and decorated gingerbread.

[]www.instagram.com/p/CIsSpFoFv-K/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= bundt cake]]
Christmas cookies

This is absolutely a thing. Making a variety of cookies, and sometimes even attending "cookie exchanges" as an event, are pretty frequent. The baking itself is usually a household event, with several family members getting together to do the baking.

My American grandmother is in her 80's and I look forward to getting that tin of cookies every year.

gwenneh, that sounds lovely. I'm always astounded on MN by the number of people who find homemade edible gifts abhorrent and chuck homemade jam/fudge/biscuits in the bin!

Not sure about bedrooms but some near me go all out in all the reception rooms and hallway etc - in fact there are companies that will come and set it all up for you and pack it all away afterwards.

@GabrielAgreste , that's who I thought of too! Certainly not typical.

www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/holidays/2017/12/22/look-inside-the-most-decorated-christmas-home-we-ve-ever-seen-in-dallas/

No. Hallways yes (as some do here) and our tree was in our hallway. But no never seen anyone decorate bedrooms. It's just outside, hall and livingroom. If all open plan it might spread a bit.

A couple of traditions around here in New England are

Take the dc for a walk or a drive at dusk in the runup to Christmas to see everyones outdoor/house decorations, some neighborhoods plan together and hand out sweets to the dc coming to look. Its very festive and builds community, some of the more able adults help the older ones etc etc.

Cookie swaps, no one really does mince pies or Christmas pud, but most people have some cookie recipes they bake every year that they give to friends, serve at gatherings, give to teachers etc. So you dont have to bake a whole lots of different ones, people get together and bring a couple of dozen of their cookies and then everyone takes home a few of all the other peoples, while having a fun party at the same time.

I do miss the town street decorations strung across the roads though. I havent seen them around us. Most towns put swags on the lamp posts and wreaths on shop windows, and then one main tree for the town (or more if its a city).

I decorate with a tree, stockings, a mantel covered in pinecones and candles, some festive bunting /swags things and poinsettias. The dc have taken to winding tinsel around the banisters and made paperchains and 3d snowflakes out of paper and all my sellotape! We then wind fairy lights around a couple of the pine trees on our drive and if I am feeling flush with time I might try and put some lights on the porch. My favorite decoration though is putting candles in each window facing the street. They are battery operated and turn on at dusk and off 6 hrs later and make the place look some welcoming and cozy (I actually leave them up until the snow melts in March ish)

If I had the money, I'd definitely do this

What tv are YOU watching that you havent seen this very famous cliche?

Theres litrally LOADS of american films and TV shows where american high school kids are suppose to kill frogs or disect pigs, usually theres one kid complaining that its cruel and being mocked.

And no we dont disect animals in 'high school' here in the UK or even really in further education.

As I said I have a medical degree and have never disected a random animal corpse, as theres zero educational value in it as Im not training to be a butcher.

I have run biopsy and tests etc... on real removed body parts but I have never walked in been given a dead piglet based in formaldehyde or a live frog and chloroform to kill like on the american shows.

I'm in Maine and it's really variable round our way. Some streets go all out, though ours doesn't. My younger son lives in NJ and there's a place near him that does really elaborate flashing displays timed to music (which you can only hear if you park your car there and tune the radio or your phone to it, thank goodness). I'd hate to be their neighbours though.

Well, I am Irish, living in the UK, and I have three trees and decorate all the down stairs rooms. I love the idea of getting people to come in and set it all up for me! Some people just love Christmas - we have had some dark, gloomy days recently and having fairy lights, colour and glitter every where really cheers me up. The house always seems so bare when everything comes down in January.

It is a cliche, and an old one at that. My DD just did a dissection in biology class, they were all offered a virtual dissection as an option. 4 dc chose to try it and 3 started it, realized it was boring and asked if they could actually dissect the grasshopper instead.

And no, no one kills the organism in class, can you imagine the havoc when some smart alec let their subject escape! Every item turns up appropriately dead and preserved in that stinky solution which is what most of the dc talk about afterwards!

And no we dont disect animals in 'high school' here in the UK or even really in further education.

Maybe you didn't, but I certainly did in A-level biology.

No one is handing any high school student a frog and some chloroform.

@Coxspurplepippin My NYC office does a cookie swap every year! It's a really sweet tradition. You don't have to bake cookies, some people buy them from their favorite bakery, we put them all in a conference room and you can take one from every box and nibble at your desk or take them home. We usually combine with card making or some kind of Christmas craft.

I also dissected things (frog, rat, cockroach, dogfish) in A level biology, but that was a long time ago and things have changed. No killing was involved though.

I’ve been living in the US for more than 10 years now. We were in Denmark during covid. Hands down Germany and Denmark do a much better job than the US when it comes to Christmas. For new year, you can not beat Denmark.

The problem with Christmas in the US is that you only have what ends up being 3 weeks between thanksgiving and Christmas. I love Thanksgiving but it really does impact Christmas.

And no we dont disect animals in 'high school' here in the UK or even really in further education.
We did in secondary school in Ireland.

I love the decorating that happens in the US. In Pittsburgh, I used to pass a cemetery where one family would go all out with the decor around a certain gravestone - changed with every season and festivity. I thought it was a lovely way of including whoever it was in their celebrations.

Bashing the Americans is a competitive sport on MN.

We do a tree in the living room, put stockings by the fireplace and put small LED candles in the windows. The outside of the house isn't decorated, and all of the decorations, including the fake tree, get reused yearly.