As the leaves begin to change colour each year, we start talking about “Christmas Creep”. If you haven’t heard this term before, it refers to the practice of merchants who try to take advantage of the holidays earlier and earlier each year and start putting out Christmas stock long before consumers are ready for it.
Christmas creep happens in our house too, but the definition is slightly different. “Christmas creep” in the O’Rourke household is when Christmas decorations go up the moment the jack-o-lantern is thrown in the trash. It is when Santa gets a little too close for comfort to the ghouls.
Or at least, this is what would happen if my husband lived in a world without me.
My husband loves Christmas in a different way than I love Christmas. He wants to spread the festivities out as long as possible, while I think part of the beauty of Christmas is in the waiting – not just waiting for Christmas day, but also waiting for Christmas-time.
Americans have it easy. With Thanksgiving falling on the fourth Thursday of November, Americans are engaged with different festivities until mere days before the Advent season begins. And Black Friday just proves that Americans get through one holiday and move right into the next.
My husband does that too. It is just that our last celebratory holiday* before Christmas is Halloween.
Thankfully, my husband married a voice of reason.
Growing up, Christmas always started precisely on December 1st when my very organized grandmother would put up her tree and my obliging grandfather would climb the ladder and drape their house in lights. If you ask my Mom, she would tell you that the Christmas season was allowed to start as soon as my sister’s birthday passed (November 26th), but as a working Mom with three kids, we usually saw decorations at my Nana’s house before our own.
As a child, those twenty-five days between the moment we first saw Nana’s tree and when we finally got to open the presents beneath it, were agonizing. A tiny chocolate was hardly consolation for those twenty-five days of childhood torture.
But as I have grown older, those twenty-five days have grown shorter and moved faster. Now, instead of eager anticipation, they are filled with busyness and stress.
Which, if you ask me, is way more creepy than celebrating Christmas a little early.
You see, for those of us who really love Christmas, we can’t help but remember that childhood wonder that once held us captive. And somewhere in the hustle and bustle, we long for that again.
We long to be excited for what is coming. We long to love the wait.
If that isn’t what Advent is all about, I’m not sure what is.
So, this year, Dan and I compromised. We didn’t pull out the box of ornaments while the Halloween candy was still fresh. We didn’t even pull out the evergreen while our coats were still displaying poppies. But we did start decorating mid-way through November – the same weekend our city had its Santa Claus parade. And when our son proudly proclaimed “It’s Christmas-time!” on November 17th, and every day since, we agreed and got excited right along with him.
Here in our house, Christmas starts early. And that’s okay.
When do you mark the start of Christmas in your house?
*I recognize that Remembrance Day falls between Halloween and Christmas. This debate comes up yearly both in my house and in Canadian society. I would say that although Remembrance Day is a holiday, it is a memorial one instead of a celebratory one. And although I believe that it is respectful to avoid celebrating Christmas until after this day of remembrance, I also recognize that people can both celebrate one thing and respect another, and that need not be conflicting.
Lovely post!
I think you hit the nail on the head (that could just be because I have a neighbour hammering at this exact moment in time!), the anticipation is the best and when the kiddos start to get that sparkle in their eyes it *is* Christmastime!
Also, Remembrance Day is less “holiday”, more observance, so you are not wrong in your approach. Canadians understand respect. I like to think it is something we do very well.
For me (and my family) Advent starts the countdown to Christmas Day, but quite frankly if it happens to be November and we “need a little Christmas now!” we embrace the spirit of the season and go for it! :D
I think people are always rushing from one thing to another, and this applies to holidays too. What happened to slowing down and taking it one day at a time, and focus on creating memories, rather than just do things (decorate, shop etc) in a lead up to a holiday?
As my planner wisely says, sometimes we’re all to quick to count down the days, and forget to make the days count.
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The past few years, we put up the outside lights just past Remembrance Day, and turn them on around the time of the Santa Claus Parade. Our inside decor doesn’t usually take full swing until we get our tree after the Family Christmas Morning at our church. We go to a tree farm and pick one out as a family.
When I was still pregnant with my oldest, I worked in retail and Christmas was there barely before Halloween passed. I put up my tree in early November that year, and I’ve always said that I’d never do it again. Totally ruined the season!
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I feel that anything before Remembrance Day is much to early. Nov 11th is a day closer to my heart, and a day that deserves recognition instead of being over shadowed by the early Christmas craze. Anything after that- I’m ok with.
Personally I like to wait until the end of November- if I had my way the last weekend of Nov, around the 24th- an exact month before Christmas eve decorations would go up. However, my dear husband is all about waiting until Dec 1st. So since this year I physically need him to haul out the decorations and lug them from the basement- I will be waiting one more day.
We used to try and wait until December 1st but I usually travel back east to spend christmas with my family and the BF stays here in Vancouver….so this year so put the tree up 1 month before christmas, November 24th. I did however make a center piece two weeks prior to that, and hung ornaments in the window. We will celebrate together on the 21st, just a few hours before I get on a plane and celebrate again with my family.
My mom always waited till mid december to do anything, and the tree was bought and put up a week before Christmas, if not a few days before. Then Christmas was drawn out and everything left up until after Epiphany.
My husband’s family always put up everything right after DH’s birthday on December 3rd. (With an artificial tree they have this kid of freedom)
It used to seme really early for me used ot the complete opposite, but I do like to enjoy deocrations a little earlier than I grew up with.
My personal rule is advent stuff, lights, nativity, and general decor with the start of advent, and tree any time in mid-late december, but if DH wants to get it up early that’s usually ok. We often have it up and lit for a week or more before I get any decorations put on, and that’s fine with me.
We are putting our tree up today – the first day of December. Growing up the tree didn’t go up until after my sister’s birthday on the eighth, so this even seems early to me. I don’t like putting it up too early though because it gets old. We’re starting our advent activities today too.
I remember the first Christmas or two after we were married was so disappointing because all of that anticipation that you have as a child was totally gone. It just wasn’t the magical day anymore! But having little ones who can anticipate and be excited, and getting to buy presents for them, brings all the magic back again. I think I get more excited about Christmas now than I did as a kid. Last year I couldn’t even sleep the night before because I was so excited to do Christmas morning with my sweet little ones. Since Theo will be more aware this year and able to open presents too I think I’m going to be even worse. Can’t wait!
As a young child growing up in the Bronx, Christmas did not officially begin until the appearance of the ‘real’ Santa Claus at the very end of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. To this day, that is when the Christmas season begins for me, and not until then. My grandfather would take me window shopping in the city, and to a small child the wonderful window displays were a Christmas fantasy unto themselves. A visit to the toy department at Macy’s to see what seemed like the world’s biggest electric train layout and have a visit with Santa Claus would be the highlights of the day. After lunch at Horn & Hardart’s Automat we would return home, and I would be left to wait for Christmas with great anticipation for the next four weeks. Oh, to be that little boy again!
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