There will always be the very serious debate of how soon is too soon to start playing Christmas music. Some wait until the day after Thanksgiving. Others even postpone it until Christmas break. But many are starting around late October.
“What? That’s supposed to belong to Halloween,” you’re incredulously crying out. But if you’ve been inside Wal-Mart lately, or any other shopping center or department store, you will see this is true. Christmas decorations, advertisements, sales and yes, the holiday tunes are here. According to the National Retail Federation, four out of 10 shoppers have already started their holiday shopping before Halloween.
Now, this is not going to be an anti-Christmas tirade or a pros and cons list weighing the benefits of allowing children to believe in Santa Claus. Not by any means. I love Christmas, the lights, the atmosphere, the Michael Buble Christmas album, the greater sense of joy in the world and the real meaning and story behind it. And as a bonus, here at Harding, we have thousands of lights hanging, illuminating the front lawn. Who doesn’t love that?
But let’s not get too hasty here. What happened to Thanksgiving? The pilgrims and American Indians, the turkey, the football, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? How did we jump right over that and straight into “Jingle Bell Rock” and “Christmas Shoes”? Thanksgiving tends to just get thrown in with the rest of the holiday season or lost in the buying frenzy of Black Friday.
What I, and many others, propose is this: Why not hold off a little on the red and green decorations and enjoy the orange and gold season? Relish in all things pumpkin, (pumpkin bread, pumpkin spice lattes and the classic pumpkin pie of course) participate in a Turkey Day run, or host a Thanksgiving themed Pinterest party with your friends and make those cute little edible turkeys out of those marshmallow cookies everyone loves. Instead of rushing your Thanksgiving dinner to hit those Black Friday sales super early, enjoy the day with your family and revel in the brisk autumn air. We need to give Thanksgiving a chance before inviting the Christmas spirit in.
With plenty of time still left to enjoy the magic that December brings, I think it’s more than OK to put your foot down on the Christmas Creep and say yes to more turkey and mashed potatoes, please.
