My 2 cents worth.

Every year at this time, I hear moans, groans, and complaints about Christmas coming earlier each year.  To be honest, the earlier the celebrating starts, the less the holiday feels special.  However, just because people shop for Christmas long before December doesn't mean they "feeling it" or celebrating it.

Personally, Christmas is my favorite time of year.  I cannot hear Christmas carols often enough. They fill me with joy and peace.  I've often said that when stores no longer decorate or play Christmas carols they're shooting themselves in the foot.  It's their one chance to make their year profitable, if they have not already done so.  But, I've come to the conclusion that carols do more than just give me the desire to shop.  They make me feel like all's well in the world.  The lift my spirit in a way no other song can.  Celebrating the birth of the King of kings, the Prince of Peace, how can it do anything else?

I do agree that carols before Thanksgiving are a bit much and can make the actual day anti-climatic. Stores decorating and playing carols began the day after Thanksgiving when I was growing up.  It's a tradition I love to this day.  In church, carols began with one the Sunday after Thanksgiving, two the following Sunday, three the Sunday after that, and all carols the Sunday before Christmas. Floridian churches don't do that and I miss it.

But, getting back to the shopping.  I begin that early for good reason (s).  First, it makes it possible to spend more on each person I buy for without breaking the December budget.  It also makes for a calmer holiday.  The packages are purchased and wrapped, allowing me to get other things done without feeling like I'm going to collapse on Christmas morning.  Giving to others is a part of me that I refuse to squelch.  I believe it's a spiritual gift that needs to be enhanced.  Of course, I could also do more than the Lord wants-and probably do, but somehow it all works out.

In conclusion, I agree that decorations and carols in the store before Thanksgiving are unnecessary, but I'll be out there, purchasing treasures for those I love and ignoring the naysayers.   I'd wish you a Merry Christmas, but it's before Thanksgiving.