A few Christmas lights hung on trees or houses is tasteful. But, the true meaning of the holidays is gratitude.

When you have a giant blow-up Santa in your yard singing Christmas carols, you are going overboard. I am no Scrooge but I must point out that having the house with the most Christmas decorations does not win you any awards besides the satisfaction of outdoing your neighbors.

I took a drive the other night and was appalled by a particular house that was completely covered in decorations. They had five different blow-up Christmas characters, about 20 light-up candy canes along their driveway and every inch of the house was covered in LED Christmas lights. It literally looked like Santa Clause threw up on their front yard.

Forgive me if I’m wrong but the holiday season should not be about how many light bulbs you can fit on one square inch of your house.

Sure it’s fun to play the game “let’s make bets to see how long Dad lasts on the roof without falling off”, but is it really necessary to turn your yard into Santa’s workshop?

There is a fine line between amazing and tacky decorations. A beautiful wreath on the front of a house is elegant. Eighteen luminescent reindeer on a roof is tacky. I am not trying to say that Reindeer aren’t cute because they are. Cupid is my favorite because its name is completely inane and has nothing to do with Christmas. I just think that with decorations – less is more.

When you hang up your Christmas decorations this year, be aware that putting Santa’s face all over your house does not exempt you from the naughty list. It might actually put you onto his list.