Now that Halloween has come to a close, it is time to start decorating for the next festive season. But which season is that? For some folks, the Christmas season begins when the clock strikes midnight after an evening of haunted houses and trick-or-treating. Excited holiday enthusiasts swap candy corn for candy canes and jack-o-lanterns for Christmas trees, skipping right over the most celebrated holiday in America.
Now, please do not call me Scrooge. I love Christmas just as much as the next person. Depending on who you ask, I probably love it more! I deck out my house with Christmas lights, merry decorations and speakers blaring jolly tunes all season long. And for me, that season begins AFTER Thanksgiving. Annually at Thanksgiving dinner, I jokingly remark that the true meaning of the holiday is to officially welcome the Christmas season, and to celebrate, we have a big feast. Come Black Friday shopping time which, for me, begins promptly at 4 a.m. in the Kohl’s parking lot, I am fashioning my holiday socks and a Christmas sweater. Indeed, I do love the season, and that is part of the reason I start it after Thanksgiving.
The holiday classic, “Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas” features many short stories starring iconic Disney characters. My favorite sketch in the special is one featuring Donald Duck’s nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie. The boys wish for an eternal Christmas thinking that celebrating the holiday every day would make their lives nothing but merry. However, after their wish comes true, over-celebrating the holiday proves to decrease the specialness of the day itself. The boys become sick of Yuletide music and holiday treats. Yes, it is clear that too much Christmas is not such a good thing. To preserve the sacredness of the holiday, and all the things that make it special, could we please just wait until after Thanksgiving?
Nevertheless, I am not going to tell you what to do. If decorating for Christmas nearly two months in advance makes you happy, go for it. All I am saying is, you will not see me playing a particular Mariah Carey song until after the tryptophan hits.