Picture it. It’s November 1st, at 12:00 am. Your favorite holiday song slowly begins as the Christmas spirit starts to bring joy to-
HOLD ON. What about Veterans Day? Election Day? THANKSGIVING? Look I get it, you’re excited, everyone is. But, please, give it a second. Do we really need two months to celebrate Christmas? For my family, the moment that we see Santa riding on his sleigh in the Thanksgiving Day Parade is when the Christmas holiday finally begins.
I need time to celebrate turkey day. Why else would I eat so much food on Thanksgiving? While it is certainly not normal to eat an entire feast on a Thursday, the Thanksgiving holiday is an excellent excuse to do so. I do it because I’m celebrating being thankful and all the other (sappy) things Thanksgiving is known for. More importantly, Thanksgiving is a time when you get to reunite with, and spend time with, loved ones. It’s a time to just relax, eat too much tasty food, and make good memories for years to come. Thanksgiving’s success even led to the birth of “Friendsgiving,” a celebration with friends instead of family. While Thanksgiving might not be the best holiday (subjective), it definitely deserves recognition and some time to itself.
I have no issue if you start to feel the Christmas spirit a little earlier than normal. It’s not exactly something you can physically control. However, the moment you start decorating your house, putting your Christmas tree up, and blasting Christmas music, you need to take a pause. In the fast pace of today’s world, it’s easy to get swept into the November pre-Christmas craze. Granted, most of this is the fault of companies who start marketing for the holiday season earlier and earlier each year, wanting to sell out as much of their inventory as possible. Often, you can see Christmas decorations put on display in late October, which is always annoying because by December, they’re all sold out. I understand that people like to be prepared, but please just wait a little longer to start blasting your favorite Christmas songs wherever you go. Now, yes, many holiday songs are amazing. A whole article could be written on the best Christmas songs, and many of you probably want to listen to them all year round. Go ahead, no one is trying to stop you. Enjoy all the holiday songs that your heart desires. But just remember, Christmas is in December, not all year round.
People wait all year to experience the joy of participating in their favorite holidays. However, when you start to celebrate a certain holiday sooner than it should, you lose some of the significance of that holiday. Plus, you start to lose many other holidays that people enjoy. When people celebrate Christmas in July and November, some even the day after Halloween, I have to ask, “why?” Many people look forward to celebrating Thanksgiving and other holidays that really don’t get talked about enough, like Diwali, St. Nick’s Day and more. The feeling of Christmas coming is also part of the fun. Yes, I do get excited about Thanksgiving coming, and the joy that it brings, plus all the good food that I usually only eat on that holiday. When people all over the world ignore Thanksgiving and just jump straight to Christmas, I get confused. Yes, Christmas is amazing and brings joy to millions. However, so does Thanksgiving and the numerous other holidays that happen before December. To me, celebrating Christmas early doesn’t really extend the “holiday spirit.” It just dampens the actual holiday, something that I am certain we all look forward to as a treat for (almost) completing the year. Waiting for Christmas will just make December that much more enjoyable.
As the Christmas holiday quickly approaches, I know for a fact that many will argue that there is no wrong time to celebrate Christmas. Go ahead and celebrate Christmas your way, whether that involves special holiday drinks from Starbucks or holiday themed clothes. Listen to all the holiday tunes you wish. This holiday season, all I ask is that you wait till after Thanksgiving to begin celebrating. Enjoy the little things that make November special and spend time with those special to you. Most importantly, take a deep breath because it’s not Christmas yet.