Is It Too Early for the Holidays?

Every year, stores seem to push their holiday merchandise earlier and earlier. We once joked about selling Christmas trees in September; now we must joke about selling them in August, and even that doesn't seem so far-fetched. This weekend, the new computer animated 3-D version of A Christmas Carol will open across the country, nearly two months ahead of the holiday.

With Christmas in the air, we wonder: Is promoting the holidays this far in advance a bad thing? We weigh the pros and cons.

Pros:
The holidays are fun. Why limit the fun to just one month when you can spread it out over two or more? It's like someone saying, "You can either pet this kitten for one minute or one week."

It gives you something to talk about with your family. At least one person at the breakfast table will remark about how early the holiday merchandise is being shoved in front of consumers. Feel free to toss in your two cents. This topic is a bit clichéd, but it's better than talking to your family about your social life, and how you like the way your hair looks.

November needs a boost. Between the rain and dead leaves, November is the Holden Caulfield of the months. Without a little pre-holiday cheer (and Gobstopper flavored candy canes), you will end up depressed, wandering the dark dreary November streets, alone and miserable.

Thanksgiving decorations stink. Christmas decorations rule! Why waste your time putting up pictures of kids in buckled hats and hand tracings that have been turned into turkeys when you could harness the power of electricity to illuminate your home with Christmas lights? Besides, you can put gourds on the table any time. But it's only socially acceptable to put an evergreen tree in your living room once a year!

Cons:
The music is horrible. It's bad enough that we must hear the same five songs over and over again for an entire month. Why drag the torture into November? And the Trans Siberian Orchestra is to music what E! Online is to legitimate news.

It takes away from the true meaning of the holidays. We know this is an overused sentiment, but that doesn't mean it's less true. There's very little religious or spiritual significance in a coffee house barista wearing a Santa hat on Election Day.

We're already stressed out as it is. Spending time with family and friends is wonderful. Sadly, this only takes up about 10 hours of the holiday season. The rest of the time is spent waiting in lines, running around town, and panicking about money. And this only adds to the usual stress we all must deal with on a daily basis. Let us have just a few more weeks to enjoy a little non-holiday stress.

It makes the holidays less special. You need to suffer through the rainy month of November in order to appreciate the joy of the holiday season. If you went hot-air ballooning every day of your life, the fun of ballooning would gradually fade away. If we start celebrating the holidays all year round, they will become less joyous, and soon we will need to create other events to make us feel warm and fuzzy, such as Ninja vs. Octopus Day (and the magical Ninja vs. Octopus Eve).

Thanksgiving rules! Don't steal the thunder away from the only holiday based on stuffing your face. Sure, the Thanksgiving decorations are always a bit stale and boring, but pumpkin pie is better than anything else man has ever created. (Even better than stairs!)

Conclusion: In a perfect world, the holidays would be limited to the month of December and the first week of January. But trying to fight the trend of an early holiday season would be like trying to body slam a mountain. It's not going to happen. So why complain?

How do you feel about hearing Christmas songs in November?

Related post: The 4th of July is Better than Christmas