‘Tis not the season… yet

A few weeks ago I was running some errands and decided to finalize my Halloween costume. Wandering over to the holiday section of the drugstore, I was greeted not by masks and makeup, but by a sea of green and red. Yes, stores had already begun putting out their Christmas cards the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Now that it’s November, I can’t go two hours without hearing some mention of Christmas. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like businesses are preparing for Christmas earlier now than they ever did when we were growing up.

Radio stations start playing Christmas music as soon as the shelves are clear of Halloween candy, the streets in the city are decorated in early November and a certain coffee chain started selling their holiday drinks in red cups last week.

I know people having Christmas parties in the middle of November. Lately, it seems like I’m the only one that thinks that this is a bit excessive.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas. I genuinely enjoy nearly everything about the holiday season. By the end of December you can find me singing as many Christmas carols and eating as many candy canes as anyone else; when I get excited about the holiday season, I let it show. I do not, however, believe that we should start this in October. A lot of my best memories are from Christmas growing up. Like most kids, December 25th was my favourite day of the year and my parents worked hard to keep the day itself special.

My birthday is at the end of November, so we wouldn’t get our tree until at least the first week of December. On Christmas Eve the three of us would stay in watching movies and baking and we wouldn’t open any presents until the whole family was together on Christmas day.

My mom always said that the wait made it more exciting. While at the time I was impatient like any other kid, I think I finally understand what she meant. Maybe you really can have too much of a good thing.

Growing up, I spent the month of December getting excited for Christmas, but now all of the hype seems to overshadow the actual holiday.

When you’ve been looking at the same decorated tree and hearing the same songs since your neighbours had a pumpkin on their front step, one more day of it doesn’t make much of a difference.

If we extend the season to last two or three months, it loses its charm. If you ate your favourite food for dinner every single day, would it really be special anymore?

This is how I’m starting to feel about Christmas.

The holiday season is still one of my favourite times of year and I would like to keep it that way.

I would like to be able to put my foot down about listening to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer before Remembrance Day without being called a modern-day Scrooge.

I do not think that I should have to explain on a daily basis that I really do like Christmas, I’m just not ready yet. I would like to enjoy the last leaves and first snow of November before moving on to the next season.

While everyone else is starting their Christmas shopping and building their Christmas playlists, I’m going to hold off. I’m going to keep eating pumpkin muffins and raking my leaves and eating my leftover Halloween candy. I’m going to let the anticipation build because like my mom always said, the wait is half of the fun.