OP-ED: Slow down your sleigh and reindeer for just a couple more days

Yes, Halloween just ended but that doesn’t mean you Christmas freaks can just skip Thanksgiving like it doesn’t exist. I understand you can’t really decorate for Thanksgiving but that doesn’t mean you can just skip it. Thanksgiving is the holiday where you can eat as much food as you want and not be judged. Thanksgiving is also the holiday to give thanks for everything you have in your life and not be focused on the holiday that is about getting and giving gifts. I don’t understand why people feel the need to jump straight to Christmas after Halloween. I enjoy Christmas and decorating for Christmas, but I grew up waiting till after Thanksgiving to decorate.

At my house we’d always semi decorate for Thanksgiving and wait till the next day to decorate for Christmas. Either on that Friday or Saturday we go to a farm and pick out our Christmas tree and cut it down and spend the rest of the day decorating it. Usually we’d spend the next day pulling out our Christmas plates, Christmas lights and advent calendars. My dad spends the day decorating the outside of the house, lights up and inflatables blown up.

Since my freshman year at Tarleton State University, my family and I have traveled to my grandma’s house for Thanksgiving. My grandma is a major decorator for any season, holiday or any event she can decorate for, she especially loves decorating for Christmas. However, my grandma knows not to put up Christmas decorations up till after Thanksgiving. That Friday morning after Thanksgiving she’ll wake us up and make breakfast and my cousins, aunts and uncles show up. My grandma starts pulling out tubs and tubs and tubs of Christmas decorations, I’m not talking 9 or 10 tubs I’m talking like 20 tubs. The whole family is put to work either putting up the tree or all my grandpa’s nutcrackers.

My roommate wants to start decorating for Christmas already and my other roommate and I say not yet, you have to wait till after Thanksgiving. It doesn’t help that all the big retail stores already have out their Christmas decorations. Why do stores feel the need to put out their Christmas stuff even before October 31. As Thanksgiving approaches my roommate has started getting stuff for our house and I have put all of it either in the garage or in our pantry. The only thing that we have up is Christmas towels because she put away our Halloween towel and our other roommate told her it was okay, and it was too late for me to say something.

I am excited to come home from Thanksgiving and start decorating our house. It is my first time being able decorate a house of my own and I am so ready. My house will be decorated front door to back door, lights, tree, wreaths, etc. After Thanksgiving I go from zero to 100 when it comes to Christmas. I want to eventually be like grandma who decorates for everything and always go over the top when it comes to Christmas and have one of the Pinterest worthy homes.

Everyone has their own opinions on when it is okay to decorate for Christmas this early and this is just mine. If you want to decorate early, I’ll slightly be like why, but I can’t blame you for being excited for one of the best holidays. It’s almost time to spread Christmas cheer, your inner self can wait just a little bit longer. Enjoy Thanksgiving and your family before you jump to Christmas.