Two weeks ago, I decided to stop at Walmart just to pick something up after my classes were finished for the day. I was completely shocked to already see Christmas decorations in my face as soon as I walked in. It is currently the first week of November that I am writing this....that means that two weeks ago when this happened, it was not even Halloween yet and I was still running through haunted houses and watching Hocus Pocus on repeat. And yet already, the Halloween section at Walmart has been aside to one small section, and Christmas had taken over. In my opinion, it is just way too soon for Christmas.

Okay, I get it. Early Christmas shopping is probably the way to go. It is a good way to make sure you get your shopping done faster, in order to avoid the last minute scrambling a week before the holiday actually rolls around. I am not going to lie, I do have a few Christmas presents bought already...but are all the decorations really necessary? Doing a bit of early Christmas shopping is one thing, but I do not see any reason why I should walk into a store to see Christmas decorations, Christmas lights, and hear "Jingle Bells" playing in the background before Halloween.

And what about Thanksgiving? Does anyone remember that holiday? The one where we are supposed to be thankful for all of the wonderful things that we have? Probably not, because instead of cooking turkey and sitting around a table with family and friends during this special holiday, the majority of the population is too busy plowing through other people at the mall to get the best sales possible for Christmas. We barely even see Thanksgiving decorations displayed in stores because retailers skip over this holiday and go straight to Christmas trees and snowmen. It is slowly becoming forgotten.

Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas. It is a favorite holiday of mine and I do look forward to it every year. I just do not see any reason for us to skip over the other two great and meaningful holidays that come before it. For some reason, Halloween seems to get the first half of the month of October, and Christmas gets the last part of October, all of November, and all of December. Why can't we just sit back and allow ourselves to enjoy these three holidays equally for the different reasons that they each exist? In my opinion, the Christmas season starts when Thanksgiving is over. I may buy a few gifts here and there to get ahead, but any sooner than the day after Thanksgiving and I will not be celebrating yet. Halloween is in October, Thanksgiving is in November, and Christmas is in December, and that is how it should stay.