When does Christmas Begin?

Here we are at the start of December, staring down the barrel of Christmas, which for me means decorating the house. Which has been met with less and less enthusiasm as the years progress, especially since we don’t have children in the house anymore and very few visitors. So who am I really decorating for, anyway? I was talking with a coworker who, with her young son, put up the Christmas decorations the day after Halloween. “I just love Christmas!” she said “I love the lights, the decorations! I love all of it!” I used to feel that way and I miss her excitement. I personally think that decorating before Thanksgiving might be jumping the gun a bit. I still like the fall oranges, yellows, and reds. I try to leave the cute fall swag that my niece made on the hearth through Thanksgiving so as not to mix holidays. But for me the tradition of decorating for Christmas begins the weekend after Thanksgiving. Call me a traditionalist, or a purist, but I just tend to think chronologically which means that Christmas comes after Thanksgiving, which comes after Halloween. But I understand her logic. If you love Christmas that much, only having the decorations up for 3 weeks really isn’t long enough, especially if you have a lot of decorations. I have a friend who used to even swap out her dishes. And let's face it, there are stores that start putting out Christmas inventory in August. That doesn’t annoy me anymore. Even when my favorite radio station, Mac FM, started playing Christmas music right after Halloween, I simply stopped listening to it and will resume after Thanksgiving. It’s kind of that whole idea of “If you don’t like it, don’t listen,” (or look, whatever). So in keeping with my own tradition, Christmas went up after Thanksgiving. The tree is smaller. There are fewer decorations put out. I minimalized my Christmas collection from 4 totes to two. But one thing remains true. When my kids come home for the holidays, they will have Holiday. There will be a tree, garland around the banister, and front yard lights. Perky the Christmas Penguin will be lit up out front, the giant wreath will be above the front door, and the stockings will be hung by the chimney with care. But it all happens after Thanksgiving and comes down in early January. Except the giant wreath, which usually stays up until the snow is gone and only because we’re lazy. I really do think it’s great that people stretch out the holidays because for me Christmas is so important to my faith life, and who am I to take that joy from someone else? It reminds me of where my spirit is grounded. It brings my family home. And it all takes place after Thanksgiving.