Christmas. Just the mention of the word brings up the thoughts of snow covered roof tops, peppermint milkshakes, bells jingling, and a jolly old fat guy who breaks into the homes of 7.7 billion people each year. All of which should be held in one singular month. December. December is a whole month revolving around christmas. The word is solely associated with the international holiday that brings joy, love, excitement, and the plummet of nearly every family’s bank balance. Christmas, to some, can be perceived as a form of robbery in many ways. Not only does it require the standard American family to spend an average of $1,000 a year, but also takes the spotlight off of all things Thanksgiving: the holiday that is associated with November. 

 Don’t confuse my connotation for a negative perception of christmas. I love christmas. I would even say that it’s my favorite holiday. One of the best actually. I just feel so bad for Thanksgiving. As the clock strikes midnight on November 1st it’s go mode for christmas. Starbucks comes out with their yearly christmas flavored drinks and cups to set the mood into the start of the season. Chick-fil-a releases their peppermint milkshake that somehow sneaks its way into every group conversation I have. Not only that, but the decorations are already up. Rooflines are glowing, aluminum reindeers have made an appearance to road medians, wreaths have been hung, and the traditional christmas tree is fully assembled and filled with tiny lights and plastic balls. 

The thing is if it were July 28th and I asked what holiday we celebrate in November, without hesitation almost 100% of people would say Thanksgiving. Duh. But now that we are actually in the beginning days of November, all I can think about is Christmas. A poorly decorated 6 foot tall christmas tree with a stuffed chicken in place of the traditional star is even staring at me as I write this. Christmas has taken over all recognition of turkey day and continues to find spot lights for itself. 

It is almost the equivalent of a little kid wanting it to be their birthday everyday. For a while it would be nice. All the cake, and presents, and attention, and awkward off-beat birthday singing. But eventually it gets old. What we consider special quickly loses significance when presented too frequently or for too long periods of time. This same effect can take place if we continuously celebrate Christmas earlier and longer than its initial intentions. If the early Christmas celebrations continue to start in November, then by the time we jingle all the way into mid-December, people will already be all burnt out of the holiday season and will have had 1 too many peppermint macchiatos.   

I guess all this is not surprising considering that people start their Christmas countdowns on December 26th in anticipation of the next holiday season. Truth is they should just cut 55 days off of their countdown because now according to social standards, Christmas starts in November. So thank you Christmas for stealing Thanksgiving month. It’s not like you had enough attention to begin with, I mean Christmas even has Mistletoe and Drummer Boy by Justin Bieber routing it on but I’ve never exactly heard of Thanksgiving music. So I hope you enjoy your month, and the one you stole from Thanksgiving. 

Merry Christmas, from November.