Christmas is my favorite holiday ever. Some of my favorite parts about the holidays include shopping, walking around in the store and looking around at all the beautiful decorations and fun Christmas items with nostalgic music playing. From ornaments to wrapping paper, there is something delightful about searching for the perfect items in the store. Christmas shopping is something that I enjoy doing with both family members and my friends. Even if you aren’t buying anything, the experience just seems to bring Christmas cheer and joy.Â
However, I have noticed that the stores tend to decorate and bring out their holiday products earlier every single year. I was shopping for Halloween costumes and noticed many stores’ holiday sections barely included any Halloween or fall stuff, and primarily had a selection of Christmas items.Â
As much as I love Christmas and am always ready to shop, having those items out before Halloween feels very consumeristic and the opposite of what holidays are really about. I can understand starting to put out a small Christmas selection after Halloween for shoppers who want to get stuff done early, but overtaking the Halloween and Thanksgiving sections before they both happen takes away the fun.Â
Putting out holiday items allows stores an opportunity to make more sales, but it also puts pressure on buyers to buy more things even earlier. On top of that, instead of the pressure just happening around the holiday, it now starts even earlier than the actual holiday season.
By the time Black Friday and Christmas shopping season roll around, most of the Christmas selection has already been picked through and it feels like the holiday season is already coming to a close. The excitement of Christmas seems to wear off before people should even be enjoying the season.Â
I would love to be able to enjoy fall and Halloween without feeling rushed into Christmas. There are so many fun things about fall, such as pumpkin patches, color-changing leaves and fall-flavored items. They get rushed out of their own season to make room for Christmas activities and items.Â
To combat this, my dad would always make our family wait to listen to Christmas music and do anything related to Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving. While I don’t exactly follow this rule, I do try to enjoy fall and postpone my Christmas shopping and activities until close to Thanksgiving. I usually try to wait until the leaves fall off the trees to start Christmas activities. Because I am in college, it makes it hard to wait for Christmas activities because I want to do stuff with my friends here before I go home for Christmas.Â
Overall, I simply love the holidays, but I do think they all deserve their time to shine. I try my hardest not to rush into Christmas and give Halloween and Thanksgiving their own time. I think it is easier to romanticize and enjoy the holidays when they are not rushed, and each has its own season. Every holiday provides unique and different experiences with family and friends, so trying to be in the moment and not stressing about the next holiday helps me enjoy each holiday more.Â