I love the holiday season, but there is no universal agreement on when it’s okay to start playing Christmas carols and trimming the tree. Some people think that Christmas season comes earlier and earlier every year—advertising and holiday sales have a big part of this. So when does the Christmas season start? There seem to be three general schools of thought on when Christmas celebrating should begin, and I outlined my thoughts on each one.
1. Before Halloween
NO. This is too early, period. Halloween is one of the best holidays and must be preserved! Christmas does not need to begin in freaking October, no matter how hard advertisers try.
October may be when I start thinking about what I will be giving out as Christmas presents, but it’s still not a time where I want to walk into a store and see a big holiday display and hear carols playing.
2. After Halloween, Before Thanksgiving
I think this is an acceptable time for Christmas season to begin. I did find it a little off-putting when I walked into a thrift store on November 5th and the entire store was Christmas themed—that’s a long time to listen to Christmas music! So I suppose I err on the side of beginning a little later in November. I prefer to spend a little time mourning Halloween before diving into Christmas preparations. I do love the Christmas season, though, and I don’t mind when it begins before Thanksgiving.
3. After Thanksgiving
This is also an acceptable time to begin celebrations, and probably the most widely-tolerated amongst those who don’t love the season. I like the idea of letting Thanksgiving pass before descending into Christmas. When I was growing up, our tradition was to decorate the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. The downside of this approach is that some years (2019, for example) Thanksgiving comes so late that you get less than a month before Christmas. I personally want a little more time with my favorite season. Additionally, if you leave Christmas shopping this late, it can be difficult to get it all done.
Personally, I begin getting excited for Christmas after Halloween and really begin celebrating (decorating and hardcore present shopping) closer to the end of November. As long as Christmas leaves Halloween alone, I’m happy! However, I’m sure the great Christmas season debate will continue.