It’s tiiiiime! Or is it?
Halloween has concluded, and as we wade into November, we approach Christmas and its joyous spirit. The start of the holiday season was marked by the release of Mariah Carey’s annual defrosting TikTok, but is it too early to start the celebration?
As everybody knows, Christmas is on December 25th, but the festivities start over a month in advance. For instance, the Starbucks holiday menu came out on November sixth, just six days after Halloween. Some neighborhoods have even started putting up Christmas lights and decorations at their entrances. Grocery stores have put out wreaths, mugs, and candy canes. There are companies that have already released advent calendars! Clearly the businesses are also getting into the spirit.
Advent calendars have been a staple part of Christmas for years on end. They range from toys to chocolates to skincare. Every year, there are TikTok creators who do full series unboxing advent calendars based on the demographic of their page. Some of them even started unboxing all 25 days of their calendars before Halloween even took place. Others have bought them, but are planning on waiting till December starts to do a day by day unboxing.
It seems as everyone is swept up into the craze of buying presents for every person they know, they forget about the epitome of gratitude, Thanksgiving. While some people love Thanksgiving and all that it represents, others feel as if it does not really mean anything to them. For example, IB sophomore Riya Malladi “does [not] celebrate Thanksgiving at [her] house,” so once November hits, she starts up the Christmas music. She “does not have anything against Thanksgiving,” but feels as if it does not really hold any significance to her. And the thing is, Thanksgiving is really only a holiday celebrated in the United States, other countries do not celebrate it. Some do not even celebrate Halloween, meaning they have no real sign of when the Christmas season actually starts; they can celebrate as early as they want. Other cultures have versions of Christmas that take place earlier, so their celebrations are done early.
Some people love that Christmas feeling in the air so they try to start the celebration as soon as possible, and the weather definitely seems to agree with this. Here in Florida, the temperature has already started to hit lows in the 30s, and although there is still fluctuation, it most likely will not be warm for very long. Even though it is unlikely for us to have a white Christmas, the atmosphere seems to think it is time.
The fact of the matter is, there is nothing bad about starting the celebration early. Being joyous, enjoying time with family, laughing and devouring Christmas cookies are all happy activities. Health Academy sophomore Madison Gonzalez says “it [is] never too early.” She also made sure to mention “a study that says having Christmas decorations up makes you happy.” IB sophomores Anya Priyadarshi and Vera Esqueda agree, saying “it is never too early for Christmas.” In fact, Priyadarshi feels as if the celebration can start as early as July as “it is already halfway through the year.” All three girls agree that “the turkey tastes better,” when the lights are up, and really, what harm could it do.
So, is it really too early for the Christmas festivities? There really is no answer, it all depends on how your family celebrates. For some, it may be too early, for others it is just right, while some people even think it is too late, and if you are the Grinch, then you do not want to celebrate at all.