The weather is getting colder, signifying the upcoming holiday season, as well as the annual debate: how early is too early to start decorating for certain major holidays?
Putting decorations up way before the holiday takes place allows those who celebrate to get into the spirit of the season, but it can undermine the importance of other times of the year worth being recognized.
For those celebrating Christmas, decorating can start as early as October, undercutting other widely-celebrated holidays such as Halloween and Thanksgiving.
Glossing over Halloween and Thanksgiving — both widely celebrated in America — and rushing toward the Christmas season causes people to forget the holidays’ importance and why, if celebrating them, they should dedicate proper time to do so.
Halloween is an entertaining time with the purpose of celebrating horror and excitement for all ages and should be celebrated throughout the month of October leading up to the day itself.
Thanksgiving, an often forgotten holiday as it is overshadowed by the impending Chrtismas season, should be recognized throughout November with its message surrounding being grateful for what you have and those you love, all while sharing good food.
But beginning the Christmas season so early causes these to be overlooked.
“Consumerism is driving this,” said Fuquay-Varina High School dance teacher, Deborah Gray. “They keep putting stuff out earlier and earlier in stores, so people think it’s acceptable to decorate for Christmas three months early.”
This push for holiday decorations in stores — Halloween out as soon as September hits and Christmas filling shelves immediately following — places a pressure on shoppers and celebrators of those holidays to buy more than is necessary for decorating.
Consumers may feel as though they’re late for the season if they don’t decorate months in advance, seeing as Christmas decorations are already filling stores by mid-October, cutting off Halloween. It may make them feel as if they’re missing out on the spirit of the season if they don’t start to decorate as soon as stores begin to put out decorations, when really that isn’t the case.
It’s never a bad thing to be passionate about the Christmas season. It’s a time intended to recognize joy, child-like wonder, and love for those around you, and has a religious significance that is important to many people around the world.
But undermining other end-of-year seasons that also represent delight and love for others quashes the fun surrounding the celebration of all.
“If you decorate too early, then it’s boring by the time you get to that season,” Gray said. “It’s not special anymore. It takes the joy out of it.”
By decorating for Christmas as early as three months in advance, celebrators undermine the significant and widely celebrated fall holidays of Halloween and Thanksgiving. It’s important to remember these holidays and their meanings and ensure the Christmas spirit doesn’t get old by the time the holiday actually comes about.
