Every year it seems Christmas is being pushed on us a little bit earlier. The election commercials that filled the airwaves up until November 6th were replaced almost overnight by advertisement for toys and holiday gifts (and upcoming Black Friday specials). Before I left for vacation in Paris, I dropped by Target to buy a Halloween outfit for my cat (don’t judge me!) only to find that the costume aisles were already being cleared up to make room for Christmas decor… it was mid-October! Halloween was still a few weeks away, and so was Thanksgiving. It’s hard to enjoy either celebrations when Christmas is already getting so much attention.
The United States is not alone in this… I mentioned I went to Paris at the end of October? Well, they were already decorating the Champs Elysees for the holidays. The Galleries Lafayette inaugurated their annual Christmas window displays on November 6th. Though to be fair, we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, so the early Christmas displays are not distracting attention from another holiday. Plus the Champs Elysees look SO pretty under glittery lights! But nonetheless, isn’t it a little early to begin to look like Christmas?
I asked myself that question over the weekend because I actually had a little extra time on my hands and thought I’d use it to put up my Christmas tree. Now, Thanksgiving this year was earlier than usual and I typically don’t like to start Christmas-ing my home until December. But then the news reported that the White House had just received its main Christmas tree (though the National Christmas tree, outside of the White House, doesn’t get lit until December 6th…) so I brought out my fake tree and boxes of ornaments from the basement on Saturday, November 24. And speaking of the White House, the highlight of holiday decorating for me is always re-discovering my ornaments. Many of them have special meanings, either because they were purchased on a special occasion (for example, my husband and I bought a cute nativity ornament in Peru when we were on our honeymoon) or because they were given by friends. But my two favourite ornaments are these two, that remind me of my two homes:
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| My friend Colleen gave me a 2005 White House Ornament a few years ago. I purchased the Eiffel Tower one at World Market. Now I need one for Montreal… |
If you celebrate Christmas, when do you put up the tree in your house? The day after Thanksgiving? Do you wait until December 1st or even later on in the month? Do you get ticked off that Christmas seems to creep up on us earlier and earlier each years or do you like to get into the holiday spirit early?
OOh, I love the Eiffel Tower one! I'm going to look for it at World Market. Thanks!!