Everyone has an opinion about when is the proper time to start putting up the Christmas decorations. Most of the time people think Christmas is coming too early and I used to be one of those people. When I worked down town in one of those huge office buildings the Monday after Thanksgiving they would always start putting up the lobby tree. It felt too soon. When I’d hear about people doing black Friday shopping the day after Thanksgiving I would think “whose thinking about Christmas already”. Jedd and I have only put up a tree one year in the almost eight we’ve been together. That was the total extent of our decorating for Christmas too, a tree, decorated with no presents under it.
Things change….on Monday (November 21st) after coming back with half pint mason jars I planned on making Thanksgiving desserts in I informed Jedd it only made sense that since we had Friday off we start decorating for Christmas. I expected some backlash but surprisingly he thought it made sense too. I had a whole explanation I had planned just in case he was resistant. I didn’t get to use it, so in case you are one of those people who think the Friday after Thanksgiving is too soon here are my reasons for you:
1. We get a real tree: Not only are these expense in my opinion but it’s also a big pain in the butt to go to home depot, put it in and out of the car, carry it up to the house and decorate the thing only to enjoy it for a few weeks. I mean SOMEONE CUT DOWN A TREE. The least I can do is celebrate its death for a full 30 days.
2. Decorating is time consuming: Setting up the seasonal décor takes time. The tree took two days for the branches to fall and settle after sitting on other trees for what I hope was only a day before I got it and put it in water. Decorating the tree took several hours (we ended up having to stop midway because we didn’t have ornament hangers). We actually have to decorate in stages. Day one was starting the mantel and inside décor. Day two was getting the tree, wreath and other live décor set up. Day three was decorating the tree. I still have to decorate the inside banister and the exterior banister. That doesn’t even include wrapping presents for under the tree.
3. Decorating is expensive: Sure you get to keep the ordainments and anything that isn’t alive to enjoy in future years but the first years is EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE. I’m not sure why stockings from Pottery Barn that are made to look old and handcrafted like your grandmother knitted them and put your name on them should cost $50…but they do. I know because we needed two of them. Don’t get me started on the cost of a live wreath or poinsettias. For the cost of Christmas not only is it starting on November 25th in our house but it’s going straight through January 1st.
4. Christmas cookies: The Food Network or maybe its Kraft does a 12 days of Christmas cookies email annually. What this means for those of you who don’t know I receive a daily email with a seasonal cookie I have to make. For this to make any sense at all I need to really make one recipe every other day for a month. There are only two people in my house and no one comes to visit until later in the month. I really need a full month to get rid of these cookies. I know you’re thinking I could just not make all 12 types of cookies but seriously that is silly CAUSE IT’S CHRISTMAS.
5. Christmas movies: I have four movies I watch every year to get me into the Christmas spirit. Every year in the following order I watch: Elf, The Santa Clause 1, 2 and 3. Now as much as I love these movies I can only take one Tim Allen movie a week. This means the three Santa Clause movies take three weeks to get through. I own these movies because they don’t necessarily come on TV. I like to watch all four of my movies the weeks before Christmas because there are movies that come on TV the week of and I’d really like to be freed up to watch those. They include “The Grinch” both the old one and the Jim Carrey one, the Peanut Christmas special, Home Alone (cause I still cannot believe that kids mom didn’t fly back for him), and if I am really lucky Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. I’m also going to answer the question for you since I know you think I’ve forgotten …no I actually do not watch “A Christmas Story”.
So that’s it folks, my very valid argument of why we start celebrating Christmas on November 25th. I’m going to go make some hot chocolate now even though it was 72 degrees out today…because that’s what you drink when it’s Christmas.
