If you’re anything like myself, the second the clock strikes midnight on Halloween, you are in full on Christmas mode. No matter how much I try to tell myself that there is plenty of time to decorate, buy gifts and do every possible Christmas tradition known to man, I still find myself already in the festive mood by the first week of November. But this tends to be a great debate amongst everyone – how early is too early? Isn’t it disrespectful to the Thanksgiving holiday if we start decorating on November 2nd?
I remember mid-October, I went to Walmart and went to the back of the store to find the Christmas wonderland they put up each and every year. I didn’t think too much about it and walked on a little bit further but then stopped and did a double take because it was OCTOBER. I am a huge supporter of celebrating Christmas as early as possible, but even October is pushing the limit a little bit for me. It seems like every year Christmas decorations and supplies go up in store windows a little bit earlier. I think there is definitely a line and putting up decorations before even Halloween is crossing it.
Thanksgiving is great. Who doesn’t love an excuse to eat forty pounds of mashed potatoes and eighty rolls? But… what actual Thanksgiving traditions are there? Who goes all out and decorates their house with turkeys? Thanksgiving traditions usually take place on the actual holiday – football, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, cooking and baking all day, and so on. It’s not a holiday you can really spend a month preparing for, as it mostly revolves around food. Isn’t Thanksgiving so much better when you’re surrounded by Christmas lights and tinsel? Why can’t the two holidays live in harmony? Just because I choose to decorate for Christmas the second week into November does not mean I am disrespecting the tradition of stuffing my face with turkey – it means I am going to stuff my face with turkey under some nice, sparkly Christmas lights.
If you are one of those people who fully support the idea of celebrating Christmas for multiple months but fear the attacks from Thanksgiving enthusiasts, here are some coping mechanisms to get you through the month of November when society deems it okay to put up a Christmas wreath.
- Turkey Trot (Nov. 22 @ 8 a.m.)
- Buckle down for some arts and crafts (cut-out paper turkeys are pretty easy, remember making those little guys in elementary school? Trace your hand on some brown paper and you’re already halfway there), and plaster them everywhere in your home. Really show your family that you are in full support of the Thanksgiving season.
- Make lists of all the Black Friday deals so you can cross off some Christmas gifts for people on your list. Black Friday is technically after Thanksgiving, but sorting through all those deals can easily take enough time to carry you through the whole month leading up to the actual day.
- Bake a different pie every day of the month. Everyone loves pies and it is one hundred percent a Thanksgiving tradition. Everyone wins here.
- Go into the wilderness and find a few turkeys. Learn a turkey call. Really show them some love and appreciation before the day they probably spend the whole year fearing comes to pass.
Happy November!