Margy: Celebrating Christmas early creates a longer holiday season, raising spirits

I’ve always loved all things Christmas. White lights, hot chocolate, ice skating, you name it. I’m starting the holiday season as soon as Halloween is over. Nov. 1 marks the beginning of the happiest season of the year. Before Halloween, even, I can be found blasting Christmas music in my car. 

Yes, I will acknowledge that starting to celebrate that early can be a little extreme. Sure, the leaves are still changing and, as of mid-November it was still nearly 70 degrees, but why hate on those who jump into the festivities early? Classic music, twinkling lights, and the smell of pine and cinnamon spark joy throughout December, so if it’s going to bring you a little extra joy to start that season early…I say go for it. I’ve been a victim of ordering off of the Starbucks Holiday Menu as soon as it is released, even customizing beverages beforehand to make peppermint hot chocolate before it was offered. The holidays bring such a sense of nostalgia and gratitude that it makes complete sense to channel that energy while fall takes a depressing turn into the long winter months. 

I know you’re going to complain about me forgetting Thanksgiving. Don’t worry, I’m not! Nothing about beginning to celebrate the holidays early hurts the Thanksgiving season. The two seasons merge together, creating an extremely festive couple of months. As soon as Nov. 1 rolls around, it’s the core of fall, with burgundy sweaters and pumpkin spice lattes making their strongest appearance. However, this is happily accompanied by the setup of lights and wreaths. The weather isn’t completely unbearable yet, which makes the holiday shopping experience about a million times better, allowing for thick sweaters rather than big winter coats. Thanksgiving is easily my favorite holiday; I love spending time with the people I love, eating homemade dishes, and cooking with my family. However, Thanksgiving, which doesn’t get as significant of a lead-up celebration as Christmas, is enhanced by the preparations for Christmas. Giving is a big component of both holidays, which makes the two perfect to combine into one.

Don’t get me wrong, I love fall. But the transition between fall, the prettiest season, to a cold winter should be more of a celebration, distracting us from the dreaded 0-degree weather up ahead. By celebrating a long holiday season, the feelings of change are more welcomed, with everyone excited for both Thanksgiving and Christmas and ignoring the fact that the temperature is slowly dropping each day. Trust me, if there were “Thanksgiving” songs, we could celebrate Thanksgiving first, but there aren’t any. Christmas music is one of the happiest elements of a freezing, dark-at-4 p.m. season, and so I’ll be listening to  Mariah Carey as soon as my walk out of school feels more like a midnight stroll. For me, blasting Christmas music and eating anything peppermint makes me so excited for the holidays to start, so I proudly start early.

 

Mara: Celebrating Christmas early disrupts the fall season and dulls the holiday spirit

Walking home from New Trier’s Winnetka Campus in early November, I was horrified to see a house decked out in wreaths and white lights. This sight was completely out of place considering the surrounding red and orange leaves. The Christmas season cannot start before the leaves have fallen, as Christmas is a winter holiday. It’s associated with snowflakes and snowmen, not pumpkins and flannel shirts.

When Christmas festivities commence before Thanksgiving, we miss out on the joys of the fall season. Every year, I look forward to autumnal activities like picking apples, carving pumpkins, and going for walks amidst the changing leaves. I want to savor the relatively warm weather and vibrancy that come with fall. 

As much as I enjoy fall, I still love everything about the Christmas season. For me, Christmas is a much-needed holiday during the colder months. The trees are bare, the grass is dead, and the air is frigid. Green and red decor helps me stay positive when the sun is nowhere to be found. Christmas makes winter bearable, bringing joy and celebration to an otherwise depressing season. Fall, however, does not require such a holiday. It already has plenty of color and sunshine. We should save festive celebrations until they are truly needed, which is after Thanksgiving. This is often the point at which the weather shifts from bearable to freezing.

Extending the holiday season from one month to two also makes it less special. You become bored of the red and green if you see it from November until January. Christmas just doesn’t feel the same when you start celebrating long before opening the first compartment of an advent calendar.

Stores like Target are especially guilty of this, as they begin selling Christmas decorations and patterned clothing during the Halloween season. This just feels wrong, not only because the seasonal color palettes clash, but because each holiday should have its time to shine. That way, we can appreciate and enjoy each occasion to its full extent. Commercializing Christmas is already bad enough without doing so in October or November.

I look forward to Nov. 29 every year, as I spend the entire day decorating my house while blasting Mariah Carey and Michael Bublé. Quickly transitioning from Thanksgiving to Christmas is much easier than Halloween to Christmas, since Thanksgiving is not an internationally celebrated holiday and is therefore a smaller celebration. My family flips a switch (literally) and turns on our festive lighting the day after it. I am excited to start shopping for gifts and baking peppermint cookies, but I want to hold on to fall for a little while longer. Just let me savor my apple cider donuts and pumpkin spice lattes until Nov. 29.