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. 

Christmas is without a doubt, the greatest holiday in existence. From everything to the movies to the food, Christmas makes its mark in so many wonderful ways. It’s a time of love and peace on earth, and should be celebrated for more than 25 days.

The food at Christmas tastes like a gift from God himself. This is fitting because of the holiday’s origin. While on holidays like Thanksgiving you’re eating sad boring green beans and pumpkin goop, Christmas brings ham, mac and cheese, cake, and pudding.

While I do enjoy other holidays’ morals of gratitude, these same morals are present in Christmas, as well as forgiveness, love, joy, and peace. These morals give you more bang for your buck. Christmas has been celebrated worldwide since nearly 250 AD. If Christmas could be celebrated 1771 years ago, why can’t it be celebrated in November?

 Christmas is one of the few holidays celebrated nearly worldwide. It is a holiday in all but 14 countries. While thanksgiving, is only celebrated in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Liberia. This makes Christmas feel so unifying, and allows your experience to feel truly magical.

Onto numbers, Americans on average spend nearly 1 trillion dollars on Christmas each year, with 150 Million dollars of that going into online spending. Thanksgiving however, raises only 0.000604% of Christmas’s annual earnings.

I personally am a Christian and because of that, I think that 25 days is not enough time to remember the gift of a lifetime free of sin. So, I choose to celebrate before December. So I can one, get into the Christmas spirit before I start running out of time, and two, squeeze every drop out of the Holiday as I can. 

Furthermore, Christmas has amazing music and the best decorations. Us Christmas enthusiasts, get Mariah Carrey, Michael Bublé, Frank Sinatra, Pentatonix, Kelly Clarkson, Dean Martin, and countless others. Also, the Christmas decorations are so beautiful and fill your heart with joy, and are seen almost everywhere especially in the Lovejoy area. 

Also, all the chain restaurants, malls, shopping centers, and parks have started decorating for christmas. Some notable things include Chick-fil-a already having their peppermint milkshake, a personal favorite of mine. Grocery stores like Trader Joes are already selling Gingerbread houses, and holiday treats. And, Starbucks serves drinks in their super cute Christmas cups.

Plus, Christmas decorations and lights are very expensive to buy and put up. If people are going to spend their hard earned money on these festive decorations, there should be enough time for people to admire them.

Overall I believe that Christmas doesn’t get enough time to shine and that my joy for the holidays is sometimes dimmed by the stress of multiple holidays to prepare for.