Thursday, October 27, 2011

HOLIDAY WARS

Yearly my dear blogging friend, Suldog posts his "rant" on "Thanksgiving Comes First" and invites others who are like minded to join in with a post of their own on the subject.  I am happy to do this.
You can get up to speed with him here:
Thanksgiving Comes First - The First Round-Up  
  
In short, the issue at hand is how Christmas is vomited all over our store shelves, media, etc. before we even get to Thanksgiving.
 
I do agree with Suldog. I began seeing Halloween and Thanksgiving stuff before the weather was cool enough to call it fall... back in August. To me, that is when the pushing of holidays before their time comes into play... when I am still trying to hang onto summer.  I suppose its appropriate if you plan on creating all sorts of holiday decorations or gifts and need the supplies and that much time.  But it seems to me that this sort of thing should be restricted to craft stores and the like. Not in general stores and in the media. Sheesh!

 
When I was a kid, I admit that I began my school year with holidays in mind... as in school has begun and that meant that soon there would be a costume to make, goodies to gather and then the beloved "days off from school" would begin, a turkey feast and wind up toward the main event of presents under the tree and more goodies to eat.

 
Like most kids, I was into the "me" mode and what I got from holidays. I was not yet impressed by the gathering of family as much as the getting. That would come later when as a parent I found out the giving and watching of joy on the faces of children and others that I loved were a way better treat. But even as a child, I understood that there was an order to the holidays.  They rolled out, you ticked them off in a count down to Christmas.  Then after Christmas there was a new count down to summer that began with the "candy holidays"... Valentine's Day and Easter.  Once I made it to Easter, summer wasn't far off and another old school year would be gone.  Yay!

 
The point is that in my own kid way, I did keep my holidays in order, no matter the reason.  There was a comforting pattern to my year that always followed true.

 
It had reason and it had traditions that were fun and pleasing.  A stablizing set in stone pattern to be expected and followed no matter what else may happen.  Patterns, schedules and order are good things. Even for the ultimate impulsiveness of childhood. Holidays were a sort of anchor.

 
Somewhere along the line, those set in stone reliable holidays began to be fused together. Right now, this week I have already seen Christmas in every store that I have entered. 

I'm not there yet!  I've still got Halloween, Vetran's Day, November 16th and Thanksgiving to create and celebrate. I don't want to be planning my Christmas yet.  It is not time.  It won't be time until December 1st.


I am raging against the machine. It chews things up and spits them out. By the time I need a winter coat, they have bathing suits on the shelf and the coats are packed away. Why should I have to begin choosing a month and a half ahead what I want to hang on a tree that hasn't even been cut yet? 

I've noticed an increase in toy commercials for children and adults. Its only going to get worse. I want to enjoy each holiday in their time, not be steam rolled over by them in advance and exhausted to the point of not enjoying my holiday due to overkill.

 
Though I will admit, as a parent, I have in the past begun Christmas shopping... and putting things on lay-away during summer months. Otherwise, I could not have afforded to put things under the tree. Perhaps I am partially to blame for the retailers pushing things too early as a consumer willing to plan so far ahead.

 
But those days are gone. My rug rats have their own babies to plan for and my time of worry that I will fail to bring about that joy on Christmas morning has passed behind me. In my defense, I did not buy what the retailers pushed.  I bought clothes they would need for winter and the rest of the school year. I did wait for wish lists in December to pick out things they desperately wanted.


  Then retailers began to reduce the time for lay-away to their schedule for pushing items for the holiday. That ended lay-away for me.


I have joined Suldog in his war against the shoving of holidays down our collective throats. I will follow my own traditional schedule, marketing be damned. If a carol comes on my radio before December 1st, I'll switch channels and even send an email about my displeasure in a polite and firm tone. I will not begin my Christmas baking before December 1st.  I will not begin my Thanksgiving baking before November 1st. I will celebrate November 16th on that day and that day only!


I will stand my ground and take my traditions back.

 
Any questions?

13 comments:

  1. I stand in solidarity with you and Suldog on this issue. Every year the holiday process gets accelerated and I'm tired of it.

    Maybe we should occupy the department stores ;-)

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  2. Cube- OMG! We have one of those groups here in this area. The Emerald City gave them a nice park to camp in, police protection and port-a-potties.
    They have decided that they are too far from the city in the park and now want to move to the U of O instead. This baffles me! The U of O is no closer to the business district.
    Its also been very cold the last few days. Tents with heaters were provided for the children who are part of the group. They are asking the public to donate sleeping bags and blankets now. What are we? Room service? There is a woman here who is donating 40 meals a day to the protesters. Some of the local restaurants are also donating food.

    I am donating blankets this year, but to the people who provide services for our many,many homeless. Not to people who have homes, things and income to return to if they wish. Same goes for my food donations.

    I believe in the right to protest, but you buy that ticket and you take that ride. As responsible parents they should take their poor cold children home! It would not be worth it to me to risk making my child ill to make a point. If I was willing to freeze for my ethics, then I'd make sure that my kids were somewhere warm and safe with family or friends who could be trusted.

    But I do admit that I have often thought of setting up camp in the market's freezer section in hot weather. =;]

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  3. Thank you so much, SR! You've always been a good blogging buddy, and I surely appreciate your help and great words here!

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  4. i like christmas, bring on the christmas carols. i listen to bob dylan's and charles brown's christmas albums all year round and of course fairy tale of new york should be listened to all year long. i'm already thinking about what cool new toys i can buy myself for xmas.

    ho, ho, ho....

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  5. Question: what did you get me for Christmas? :-)

    I think of people all year round and get presents as I find something they might like (at yard sales and thrift stores). There is a person or two in my family that I have to wait for the list, but otherwise...no.

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  6. beyond even the commercial aspect my family knows i won't tolerate the watching of any christmas programming until after thanksgiving. it's simply not allowed here.

    and LOL word veri it...i am not kidding.....tantrum!

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  7. Suldog- You are welcome!

    billy pilgrim- There is no day that Fairytale of New York is not worth enjoying. I'll agree with that. I'll bet you're thinking of candy in your stocking as well. =;]

    NoRegrets- I don't have a problem with that. Its wise shopping and great that you think about the folk you buy for that way. But I truly don't like the way they push my holidays together. There's no breathing space. I think its why people get exhausted by the end of the holidays. I'll have to think about your present yet... don't rush me!

    lime- Yay! Hahaha... tantrum! I love comment verification words. I'm thinking of collecting them. Especially the non-words that I can assign meanings to. Sillier the better.

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  8. I was joking about the occupation. I'm not going to sit out in the elements for any protest. I'd rather just not purchase any of their early holiday items. You can always get anything you need on eBay.

    It's already cold up where you live? We're still in shorts and t-shirt weather down here. The mosquitoes are a big pain in the butt. They'll eat you alive.

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  9. Cube- =:] Me too. I just can't imagine having my kids camp in the cold like that.

    Yep, its cold! But 3GirlKnight already has snow, so I feel better. I'd love to have another month of tees and shorts. I'd even put up with bugs and spiders the size of cookies! And I hate spiders!

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  10. We need an Occupy the Holidays movement. I think Nordstroms said it will not put up Christmas stuff until December 1. Stand your ground and enjoy the holidays. I think Thanksgiving will be a blur for us this year with the new baby, and hopefully we will be back to somewhat normal around Christmas.

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  11. What's November 16th?

    I don't deal with Christmas until after Thanksgiving myself. Usually star decorating ht first weekend in December. I went to get something for Halloween today and they were already shifting out the display and replacing it with Christmas stuff.

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  12. Shife- I'll sign on to that one! Tomorrow we hand out candy... and then I can start on Thanksgiving.
    I imagine I'll be spending it with the man's family, which is fine.
    I recommend that you let some other person make the big feast this year and spend a limited amount of time schmoozing... or stay at home where the little one and mom can be relaxed. New babies are fun to show off, but it can be exhausting so soon after the new one arrives. You are smart to want to take this one easy!

    secret agent woman- Its crazy out there in retail land!

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  13. Amen, sister! Of course, you already know I'm all on board with this. Sorry I've been away so long... just catching up.

    And you're right, it's not just Christmas, even though that's a true blitz. It's everything. I find myself buying extra sandals in April so that when mine wear out in mid-August I have an extra pair. Same with bathing suits or whatever else you might need.

    Not to mention, as I mention it ;-), the demise of clearance. The day after a holiday, everything just goes away... no more sales. Cripes.

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