For years, I’ve been adamant about NOT starting Christmas festivities until after Thanksgiving. However, lately I’ve been re-thinking that. Today a Christmas commercial came on TV and my husband exclaimed, as he always does, “It’s too early!”
Well- yes. If all you have to do is sit back and wait for Christmas to appear, you can wait until after Thanksgiving. But if you’re the one, ahem, in charge of putting up all the decorations, sending all the cards, baking all the cookies, buying all the gifts, and wrapping all the gifts, then waiting until after Thanksgiving can be kind of stressful.
I’ve decided to treat the month of November as kind of a Thanksgiving-Christmas mashup. For example, this morning I drank my tea out of my Thanksgiving mug, but I added this delicious creamer:
I took down my orange lights- I usually leave them up through Thanksgiving, but they were starting to look kind of drab- and replaced them with white. Much brighter and happier!
And, of course I would NEVER wait until after Thanksgiving to drink out of the Starbucks holiday cups- that would be sheer insanity.
Ever since my son started college, we’ve been decorating the Christmas tree on Black Friday. This year, we may have a high school football game on Black Friday, and my son leaves on Saturday. This means we may have to decorate the tree on Thanksgiving. Or maybe even the day before! I’m totally on board with this.
How about you? Are you in Thanksgiving mode, Christmas mode, or both? (or, neither?)
Top photo was taken from Lisa’s blog. She spotted that decoration in her neighborhood!
45 Responses
I have also changed my mind about waiting until after Thanksgiving to decorate. I kind of wanted to do it this weekend but ran out of time and energy. But next weekend it is happening! I like having the glow of the tree for a long stretch of time, especially with how dark it is at this time of year!
Yes- the Christmas season should be prolonged as much as possible! Plus, it’s a lot of work to gt those decorations up- we might as well enjoy them as long as possible
I forgot to turn off my xmas lights timer and they were on when I came home tonight. I debated keeping them on since now two other nearby houses are lit up too, but I’m trying to hold off. I do enjoy the pretty glow though! We shall see how long I can hold off 🙂
Oh… if I had mine up, I wouldn’t be able to resist turning them on!
We always do the tree on Dec 1st, if we can, along with any other decorations. And no thanksgiving in Australia obviously, so right now we’re just in normal mode.
It’s funny to think of being in “normal” mode. Americans get SO worked up over Thanksgiving! And Christmas, of course.
I’m neither because it’s not typical festivity in Indonesia, so I’ll live it through my blogger friends.
when do you start buying gifts?
I’ve already bought a couple gifts, but when my son is home for Thanksgiving I’ll get the kids to make some wishlists for me. Then I’ll start in earnest.
I’m one of those boring people who want to keep Christmas for December. I do understand why people want to start decorating etc earlier, though! It brightens up the dark season. And I normally start adding Christmas spices to my coffee in November, it’s just that I’ve forgotten about it this year! I think it’s because November has been so warm that I’ve almost forgotten it’s so late in the year.
Well… it’s always warm here. So I’m used to make my own holiday seasons!
No, no no no this is not happening for me at all.
I will not decorate anything before December 1. I’m very strict about that and the tree never goes up before the 23rd if we are traveling, I might put it up a bit earlier. Never gets lit before the 24th. I love the Christmas season like you do but for me it’s important to remember what it’s all about and that just doesn’t happen before December 24.
I know most people don’t think like that and my crazy neighbors are decorating their house for the past three days they have an unbearable light show which triggers my migraine so I have to have my shutters down for the next six weeks. It’s annoying.
but I understand your happiness and I wish you all the fun and doing Christmas early.
I’m wondering if this is more of a German thing? And, I know in the “old days” people didn’t really decorate until the 24th. Nowadays people always want more and more. (myself included, so no judgment there!)
Yessss, a Chrismukkah SOFT LAUNCH is exactly what I need!!
Oh, yes, I remember you do both holidays in a major way!
I’m fully supportive of this idea! Americans have one big holiday and then less than a month later, another big holiday, it feels like a lot of planning and organizing in a compressed period of time. SO YES do it! Do it! Do it early! Also lol, yeah, if you have nothing to do but let the holiday happen, then I guess you don’t need a lot of time.
Yes, I’m glad I finally came to my senses!
We start decorating for Christmas midway through November and it stays up through MLK Jr. weekend in January. My Mr and my daughter love Christmas and this gives them a reasonable amount of time to enjoy it but also gives me clear boundaries about when the music and the movies and the a lot of it all starts and stops, haha!
That’s a great plan- I need a hard stop. We’re never really sure when to take Christmas down.
As a dog owner, I am a huge fan of early Christmas decorations. This time of year is dreary and going out in the dark for a dog walk isn’t much fun. Now add some Christmas decorations into the mix and suddenly there are pretty things to see in the darkness. Hooray!
Mind you, I’m not a seasonal decorator and my husband is very particular about waiting until after his bday to bring out the Christmas goodies. But I am glad that others don’t share in our no decorations/wait until early December to start policy.
Ha- yes that makes sense! More lights in those dark early mornings. Bring it on.
I am keeping the Christmas decorations off until after Thanksgiving although since I celebrate Chanukah, they are winter decorations… and I’m glad that Chanukah starts on Dec 25 not earlier,
Yes, I’m also glad the two holidays start at the same time- it’s more fun that way.
I changed my mind about this as well this year, in part because of the horrible election results and wanting something to put me in a better mood, but mostly because I’m going to be out of town most weekends between now and Christmas and I’m planning to spend the two weeks I have off for Christmas at my parents’ house so it was pretty much decorating now or never. So I put my tree up yesterday and now I’m so happy!
I listened to Christmas music while I was decorating but will probably wait to do that again until after Thanksgiving. But I have started eating some seasonal foods, because I love anything peppermint!
Yes, that makes sense. Get that tree up so you have time to enjoy it! And, once it’s up, it’s SO cheerful and pretty.
I guess I fall into the neither category. I’m not hosting Christmas or Thanksgiving this year. I’m in clean out my closet mode. And this is not just a closet clean out . . . I’m redoing where things are stored, as in – I’ve packed up all the old Irish dancing dresses and I’m gonna store them up high in the laundry room. Etc, etc.
The little girls want to listen to Christmas music in November and that’s a no for me. I do get that it makes sense to get the decorations and gifts started in November. I’m not opposed to that, esp the gift buying. We have 4 kids with bdays from early Dec -Jan 13th. Lots of gifts to buy. Eek. I don’t drink Starbucks (or any coffee), but is someone showed up with peppermint bark in November, I would not refuse it.
I’m laughing at this. Clean out your closet mode??? Well, that’s… festive.
I wish my husband would change his mind — I’d love if we started decorating before Thanksgiving, especially since we are out of town and then probably wont get in any decorating until the weekend of the 8th – and then Christmas will be here before you know it! I listen to Christmas music when he’s not around though – it’s my favorite 🙂
Well, I certainly hope your husband is doing a large part of the decorating! It’s not really my husband’s thing, so I do almost all of it. Which is fine- but then I get to decide when to do it!
Growing up we were not allowed to decorate until into December and we couldn’t bring out our Christmas music CASSETTES until mid-December. It felt like torture. Though I also made it extra special?
Every holiday seems to be celebrated over longer and longer periods now, mostly to fuel consumerism, I suppose. But I am really happy to have things up earlier. I don’t do a ton of decorating, so it’s fairly minimal and just brings some cheer to the house during the dark/dreary winter months. I now leave my mantle swag up from the 1st of November through to after Easter and I LOVE that. This year we’re going to have an artificial tree on our main level for the first time ($30 at a thrift store…it was worth a shot), so we can have the tree up longer. I’m hoping to put it up next weekend. I just love the cheery glow. Plus, I’m someone who finds Christmas decorations after Christmas soooo depressing, so I’d rather have it up for a long time before since I know I’m going to need it down by New Year’s at the latest.
Yes, I don’t like it up past New Years. And, I’m pretty sure growing up we didn’t decorate until some point in December. All this early celebrating wasn’t really a thing back then. I agree, every holiday season is prolonged now.
The older one going off to college really changed our Christmas too–now it’s put up the tree and take the holiday pajama picture on Black Friday.
Your white lights look nice and cheery… I still won’t change out bedding or other decorations until after T-Day though… The Canadians have a much nicer and more reasonable schedule, I think!
I know! I wish our Thanksgiving were earlier- that would solve everything.
I have not changed my mind. I only do drudgery for Christmas right now – getting things ordered (cards, advent calendars, etc.) and making sure my address list is updated. The tree and other decorations will not go up until after Thanksgiving. It is pretty hard-wired in my life.
Well- getting things ordered and address lists updated is pretty important. That way when the tree goes up, you can relax and enjoy it.
i heard my first Christmas song in the hospital on Saturday (“Last Christmas”, not my fave but not bad) and I was totally ready for it. Bring on the cheer – why not!!? On my run this AM I saw a turkey next to a santa with a countdown sign 🙂
Hahahaha… if my first song of the season was “Last Christmas” I would be rolling my eyes and gnashing my teeth. Luckily my first one this year was “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”
I mostly leave the timing of the tree and decorations to my husband since he is the most into it. But I will be getting cards and gifts started now. I like seeing other people’s lights up pretty much anytime after day light savings time when it gets dark early.
Oh, you are lucky! If it were up to my husband we would hardly have any decorations. He likes them after they’re up, though.
I always used to think we should wait until December 1st to start Christmas decorating, but of course that meant we didn’t actually GET decorated until even later, because decorating does take work, and this year my husband is going to be away the first two weeks of December, so yeah, we are starting early. That creamer looks amazing! And I don’t even drink coffee.
I don’t drink coffee either! I’m putting it in my tea.
And- great point. If the rule is “No Christmas till December 1st”, what if you can’t get the decorations up that day, or that weekend? Then it starts getting pretty late.
My tree will be going up after Christmas (the first weekend of December) but only because I’ll be on a cruise the first week of December and I don’t trust my cats with a whole five days alone with the tree, haha. Otherwise, the tree would already be up. But I am getting out all of my Christmas decorations and Eloise is currently sitting in a pile of shiny garland that I’m still figuring out what to do with.
Hahahaha…. I wouldn’t trust my cats alone with the tree either.
My Mom is a big fan of Christmas and often leaves the tree up well into January. So I say do what you want and celebrate when you want. Why do we all have to be the same? I don’t decorate at all but I enjoy running around and seeing other people’s lights and festivities! I say bring it on.
You’re such a rebel, Jenny.
I am neither in Thanksgiving nor Christmas mood yet, but will be hosting an early Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday for my MIL… so I should get on that. LOL
I believe we are having a Christmas Wreath delivered by a Boy Scout on Saturday. If that happens, I will hang that on my door. Otherwise I will wait until after Thanksgiving for any decorations. I have started my shopping and am just starting with my Christmas Cards.