It’s an annual ritual.
Every autumn I comment on the number of catalogs that clog our mailbox. I know it’s due to the upcoming holidays and retailers wanting to claim whatever we plan to spend on gifts. But this year, the catalogs began to multiply the beginning of September, and I found myself wondering if we honestly have to think about Christmas before school starts? I think the real answer is “No.”
At the same time, the world is a busier place than it was when tradition dictated that Christmas decorations went up at Thanksgiving. (There are probably people out there who won’t believe the holiday season started that late, but I assure them this was once the case.) Life is more complicated now; everyone has more balls in the air. So maybe receiving catalogs early isn’t such a bad thing. That said, I guess I’m becoming a convert to early holiday buying.
This year we’re spending Thanksgiving in Denver, Colorado, and then vacationing in the Caribbean the early part of December. So it seems reasonable to get the holiday shopping and wrapping out of the way now.
In fact, Earl and I have already purchased most of our gifts, thanks to the early catalog onslaught. Today the gifts began arriving. This is certainly a milestone for me, who once bought gifts, wrapped them, and saw them unwrapped inside a week.
The only question is: Is shopping in September less festive? Is it more calculated? And the answer is I don’t know. I only know that this year it suits our situation. I’m glad to take advantage, but I’m equally saddened that Christmas has become so commercial that it’s about to overshadow Labor Day instead of Thanksgiving.
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