It starts small … seeing Thanksgiving cards next to the Halloween ones in the drugstore.
Or maybe it’s a report from your spouse that there’s egg nog in the grocery store.
But it has arrived.
Holiday Creep.
Maybe it actually arrived in March, when the first person I supervise asked for Christmas Eve off, meaning I had to talk to my bosses about what we were going to do on Christmas Eve. (We still haven’t gotten it sorted out yet.)
But it’s going to get worse before it gets better, and I don’t even care about Pumpkin Spice Everything starting in the middle of August.
It’s Oct. 1. While I’m watching the start of the baseball postseason, some radio station program manager is getting ready to throw the switch on the all-Christmas, all-the-time format … if it hasn’t happened already.
For example, I can think of a mall in Nashville that might already be pumping out the Christmas tunes.
And I will scream and holler about why people are in such a hurry to talk about Thanksgiving before Halloween, and Christmas before either.
And nothing will change.
A Silly Place 
I don’t like finding Christmas decorations in the stores this early. But I do appreciate that fabric and craft stores get started early. That helps me begin my preparations with an eye toward avoiding the rush in November and December. It does seem to happen earlier every year–as if it will get them out of the red sooner rather than Black Friday or later.
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We don’t do Thanksgiving over here (obviously!) but the Christmas before Halloween thing used to really annoy me. And my birthday is in late November, so I used to tire of it getting overshadowed by Christmas.
Now I work somewhere that sells a LOT of Christmas stock, and all through September people were berating it’s existence, except those that were buying it! So yeah, that’s why it’s there, people start early, people travel over the holidays so prepare early, some just like to beat the crowds. I craft, so craft supplies are usually available from September if not before, because you need to get ahead, especially those crafters that sell at craft fairs and so on. So I’m sort-of used to it. Playing the music and getting the tree up though, that’s a bit much!
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If by “over here” you mean Great Britain (I didn’t see anything in a profile), didn’t retailers start a “Black Friday” the same day as ours (the day after Thanksgiving), so they could have a shopping season kickoff?
If you’re not from there, my apologies for getting it wrong.
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I’m in the UK yes. Where Black Friday is concerned, some shops do it, and some don’t 🙂 it’s not as big over here though!
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Wait until you’re recording Christmas music in July. That’ll jerk a knot in your tail every time…
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I’ve actually wondered about that for people who record holiday specials in October, and I would guess it also applies to what you’re saying. How do they even get in any kind of holiday spirit?
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Last year I decorated in mid November and I loved it. It was so much fun seeing the house filled with lights and sparkles. I will probably do it again!
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Hey Bill! Yes – I hear you. I’ve started the #last90days challenge to avoid going down the slippery slope myself! Focusing on closing out strong instead of slightly larger due to over indulgence of mince pies in November!
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Oh I know.. I just saw a store front with Christmas trees in the windows. That’s retail for you. What sad is it’s become so commercial and the true meaning of the holiday seems to get lost more each year .
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