Christmas Shamed

It happened again.

This year, like the last two, my family has been Christmas-shamed by our neighborhood.

If you look up and down our street, you’ll see a plethora of Christmas lights and blow-up decorations.

This started on Thanksgiving night.

Here at my house, you’ll see a distinct lack of holiday décor. We still have fall vibes going, and it will stay that way until potentially next weekend. Sure, I’ll slowly start to pull out garland and wreaths and lights, eventually the tree. But I’m not pressed to throw up Christmas on the front of the house and I certainly won’t be bullied into it by my over-zealous neighbors.

To be clear, I am not a grinch. I actually love decorating.

Now, I know some families have a tradition of decorating for Christmas on Thanksgiving or the day after. I get it; I just didn’t grow up with this and I haven’t embraced the practice as an adult.

In fact, I have a bit of a mental block in this area.

I’m the person who doesn’t listen to Christmas music or watch Christmas movies before the first of December. The commercialization of the holiday seems to get worse every year and the more it’s shoved into consumer’s faces, the less I want to participate. I refuse to skip past Halloween and Thanksgiving and go straight to Christmas. I ease into the holidays after Thanksgiving. I am thankful for what I have before getting into the spirit of giving and receiving material things.

I can’t even start thinking about gifts until December starts. Once the calendar changes; it’s like something shifts and it becomes acceptable to focus on holiday things.

So, in a few more days, after a few more Christmas songs and the motivation to pull out the boxes of decorations from the basement, I’ll get around to putting out our lights and wreath. But I won’t be pressured by the holiday fanatics in the neighborhood.

Is there anyone else out there like me who takes a little time to get into the holiday spirit?