So it's that time of year again, and whether we like it or not, Christmas is everywhere. Surely it's supposed to be joyful and jolly, right? Of course there are the Scrooges and Grinches out there who hate Christmas with a burning passion and hide in their houses from November to April. But then there are those people, like my mother, who embrace Christmas long before it starts and miss it when it ends.
About a week before Thanksgiving, I came home one day to find Christmas CDs playing in the living room and mistletoe hanging in the doorway. The tree was up and my mom was putting lights and ornaments on it. Cookies were baking in the oven, and there were tacky, homemade Christmas nick-nacks all over the house. Normally, this would put me in a good mood. I would grab a blanket, make some hot chocolate, and put A Christmas Story in the DVD player. But this year I walked in, stopped, looked around, and thought "What is happening to the world?". It didn't make sense to me. Why were we already celebrating Christmas when it was more than a month away? My mom then explained that she wanted to get an early start this year, so that she wouldn't find herself rushing around to get ready before Christmas. She said that having everyone around for Christmas was really stressful and she needed to make sure she was prepared. But my question is, why is Christmas a stressful time? Shouldn't it be about welcoming the holiday season and being with our friends and families?
There's really only one possible answer: media. The media portrays Christmas as a holiday that's all about materialistic items. Shopping, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Day Before Christmas Sale, whatever. Sure, I love getting gifts on Christmas, but I don't think that giving and recieving presents should be the main focus. Can't we focus on being with our families and friends, and having fun? Let's stop worrying about the perfect gifts and spending as much money as possible, please.
As for the early start to Christmas this year, well, it kind of feels like we skipped Thanksgiving. Yeah, we got together with our families, ate turkey, and watched football. But all everyone could talk about were the Black Friday sales and the things they were going to buy for Christmas. Am I the only one who's thankful anymore, who actually cares about Thanksgiving?
I'm all for candles in the window, cheesy sweaters, christmas music, and just going all out at Christmas time. But not if that means America is going to skip Thanksgiving because Christmas is more "important". So can we all please agree to give thanks before we dive in to shop and stress over Christmas? Sweet.
Happy Holidays, y'all.
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