'Tis the Season...

to be jolly...fa la la la la la la la la...

Merry Christmas!

Wait a minute...it's not even Halloween yet. Although if you looked around any shop you'd think that Halloween was long gone and Christmas was tomorrow.

Now I understand that retailers need to make their money.  And Christmas is a big money maker.  But we've already lost Thanksgiving, must we push Halloween aside BEFORE the holiday hits?  Halloween is a big money maker too, but not all of us want to buy our Halloween candy, costumes and general supplies BEFORE the end of September!

I was in Home Depot on the 22nd. (See:  http://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2016/10/ive-lost-my-hands-and-other-weekend.html).  When we walked in we were immediately confronted with Christmas trees galore.  They were beautiful trees.  There were wonderful decorations; inflatables, lights, you name it.  But it was October 22nd.  I said something to the clerk in the section.  He told me that it had all been up for two weeks already.  (Which puts us at early October.)  Meantime, the unwanted (unloved?) Halloween decorations had been relegated to a tiny section of the store.  Is there no love for the skeleton man?  What happens to the crackling witch?

Then there's the Hallmark channel.  I realize that Christmas is their BIG money maker.  (Of course I'm sure Valentine's Day is a good one too.)  However, when their channels switch over to ALL holiday movies starting October 28th (3 whole days before Halloween), I freak out a little bit.  I'm a big sappy holiday movie fan.  My husband still teases me by asking when "Ebbie" is going to be on this year.  (For those of you NOT in the know, this is a Lifetime "classic" from 1995 with Susan Lucci as Ebbie Scrooge.  Sadly, I don't think Lifetime or any channel has shown this since 2013.)  While I'm down with the Christmas in July stuff; this is just too soon!  Hallmark people, you have Halloween stuff to show; heck you could run all of the Good Witch movies and the series (which I didn't even realize was still a thing!  Sorry Catherine Bell) ad nauseam for the next week or so and do a big push.  You even have a couple of Thanksgiving movies (that I hope you'll show on the actual day; interrupting your all Christmas all the time.)  Couldn't you have held off for just a few days?  (Could you consider it for next year?  Please???)

Now I will admit that I am somewhat guilty of rushing the holiday stuff.  I do the family portrait with Santa at least a week before Thanksgiving.  But I'm trying to avoid long wait times.  (This used to be a good ploy, but now everyone seems to be catching on.  Maybe I SHOULD wait...is anyone visiting Santa on Christmas Eve?  I could always send out my holiday cards AFTER the holiday; it's not like it hasn't been done before.)  I TRY to do my holiday shopping before Thanksgiving and before the holiday shopping madness begins.  I don't have that much to buy and I'm certainly NOT standing in line on Thanksgiving to get into any store to get ANY deal.  (There's no deal out there good enough for that; at least not in my book.)  The shopping that I need to do for my son, I *try* to get done in early November just because I don't want to deal with the mall and the parking lots.  Actually I just don't want to deal with it period.  I only do it because it's the easiest way to get the Legos that he wants and he DOESN'T necessarily want a set, but actual individual bricks.  My husband has become the master large Lego cup stuffer.  This necessitates an actual physical visit to the store and a great deal of patience on his part.

Am I turning into an old grouch because I want my holidays in some semblance of order?  I don't want to be Back to School shopping before the school year ends and I don't want aisles and aisles of holiday decorations before Halloween.  Let me enjoy Halloween.  Consider letting me enjoy Thanksgiving too.  (I know that's an awful lot to ask for.)  The season of holiday craziness does not need to start now.  Although I know that's asking too much as it has already started...in many places even before the new school year started!  Christmas in July is one thing, but full-fledged Christmas starting in August???  How can we actually enjoy the season when it is foisted on us months before it actually begins?

So Bah Humbug on this pre-season seasonality!  I'm going to go put on my witch's hat, carve a pumpkin, stuff myself with mini Reese's peanut butter cups and watch "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!"