It's Too Early For Christmas Decorations

"The holidays always seem long" the cashier said, "because we put out our holiday decorations so early."




"Was this the store where I saw Christmas decorations before Halloween?", I asked.




"Yep, that was us."




It all made sense, considering I had seen New Year's Eve decorations at that same drugstore earlier today.




The cashier was perfectly nice, but her store's policy is ridiculous. No store needs to have Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving, let alone Halloween.




Here's what I mean:




I love Christmas. I love cheesy Christmas merchandise and decorations. During mid December, I'll walk into Walgreen's if I have a spare moment just for the sake of looking at the Charlie Brown trees in a box or reindeer lawn decorations and absorbing the holiday glow.




I just don't need to do it on November 3rd.




That's too early. Thanksgiving and Halloween deserve seasons of their own. Celebrating Christmas in early November makes it stale by mid-December. Getting overly excited about anything too far advance takes away the enjoyment of now.



It seems like that's what we're always doing. "Thanksgiving might be around the corner," the commercials say, "but just wait until Christmas! That's when things will get really fun!"


The message will change come later in December, when the new year is when all our dreams will come true.


But come about December 28th, store aisles will stop looking a lot like Christmas and start looking a lot like Valentine's Day, because every kiss begins with Kay. Besides, isn't that what you really want?




It isn't just holidays, either. How long until your next vacation?


Everybody's working for the weekend.




Or, perhaps, the most wonderful time of the year.




I understand the counterpoint. Just because I don't want Christmas season to start in early November, doesn't mean somebody else wouldn't like to see Christmas stockings and holiday colored M&M's when it's still warm outside. So, really, who's the victim?


Who?




Me. And those of you who want to enjoy the holiday season we're actually in.




I love Christmas, but I love Thanksgiving too. And Halloween. The seasons and calendar set up nicely so that they all get about a month. Starting Christmas too soon takes away from the celebration of the others. You can't be fully into the moment of the holiday at hand when the store is already trying to point you towards something else any more than you fully listen to someone talking to you while sending a text.




It's information overload.




It's symptomatic of bigger problems in our society. A day after we pause to give thanks for what we have, we flock in droves to buy more on Black Friday. It's as though someone has convinced us that if we just buy onnnnneeee more thing, we'll finally be satisfied, and we just can't wait to get started buying that elusive happiness.




We shouldn't fall into that trap and overlook Thanksgiving. It's a day where we can eat fantastic food with people we like and remember that for most of us, things could have turned out a lot worse. It doesn't require a lot of fuss or hassle trying to throw the best party or money and stress over finding that perfect gift.




For most people, it's the only four-day weekend on the calendar. It's a time to relax and recover from whatever the year has brought, to celebrate making it through its worst and to give thanks for its enjoying its best. It's just enough time to remember who we are outside of work and what we have that brings us joy.




And it's not just a meal, but a long weekend of doing as much or as little as we want, with no trappings or commercialization.




Maybe that's why stores are so anxious to rush through it.




But it's exactly why we shouldn't let them.