It’s that time of year again when Halloween has passed and Thanksgiving is already here. As soon as November 1st hits, people are in holiday mode, but it is mainly Christmas that you see in stores. I for one am Jewish so I start to feel nauseous when I see too many Christmas items in one spot. I would love to see more of Hanukkah in stores because it comes before Christmas, but we all know that Christmas is the most popular holiday around this time of year.
I was with friends in Walmart, Target and TJ Maxx. When I went to Walmart I did not see a single thing in the holiday section that wasn’t Christmas related. I thought if I went to Target things would be a little bit different but I could not have been more wrong about it. TJ Maxx had a couple of Hanukkah things like dish towels and throw pillows but that was about all that I saw.
It stinks that I might have to shop online to find decor for my room this holiday season because that means that I will end up spending more money than I intend to, and I still have a couple of people to buy presents for. I don’t know what I will be buying but luckily I know who I need to buy for.
I also have a hard time figuring out what I want and need these days because I know that I am a broke college student, so I don’t want to ask for expensive things if I can’t buy other people expensive things too. It is also hard to make sure that I will have some type of surprise when it comes to the holidays because I have found that I am a hard person to buy for so people ask me what I want and then I end up knowing what I am getting.
Another thing that is hard about being Jewish is knowing that I will be at college for the duration of Hanukkah this year which means that I will celebrate with my family after the holiday. It also means that there is a potential for my sister and I to miss our family Hanukkah party with our mom’s side of the family.
I am excited to hopefully spend a little bit of time with my sister during Hanukkah and maybe we will be able to light the candles and cook latkes in her kitchen. If you asked me what my favorite Hanukkah food is I would say latkes. If you asked me what my favorite thing about Hanukkah is I would say celebrating the festival of lights and lighting the candles with family and friends. I also love to spin the dreidel.
It is very important to me to show that Hanukkah is a thing because so many people forget about this amazing holiday. My roommate and I agreed that we can decorate however we want as long as it does not look like the two holidays threw up in the room. Last year I wasn’t really on campus for the holiday so I didn’t decorate the room but one of my roommates loves the holiday season so she went all out decorating wise.
I just wish that stores would provide decorations for more than just Christmas. I get that Hanukkah is a minor holiday but it is still important. People don’t understand that I am not against Christmas I am against it coming before Thanksgiving and Hanukkah. I don’t want to listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving and I certainly don’t want to be shopping for people’s presents before Thanksgiving. If you ask me, Black Friday is when the holiday shopping can begin!