Too Soon For Christmas

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Train-under-treeMy son LOVES Christmas. He loves everything about it. The presents, the decorations, the lights… But most of all, he loves The Polar Express. We first played the movie for him when he was not much more than 12 months old, and it was love at first sight. He’s 5 years old now, and his obsession has not waned in the slightest. In order to keep The Polar Express from playing nonstop on our television ALL YEAR, we limit its showing to “Christmas time.”

My rule of thumb for years has always been NO CHRISTMAS STUFF BEFORE THANKSGIVING. Then, I had kids and had to throw that rule out the window, because waiting until Thanksgiving for all things Christmas is impossible. Society seems to have conspired against those of us who desperately want to save all of our sparkly holiday traditions for the month of December.

Holiday lights go on sale at Target with the Halloween candy. These are easy enough to avoid since they are usually in the back of the store. However, now a days people are putting up Halloween lights! Which, by the way, to a 3 or 4 or 5 year old are still considered “pretty lights” and when people are putting up “pretty lights;” well, it must mean Christmas is coming.  According to my husband, Lowe’s already looks like Christmas town.  I don’t even dare set foot in THERE with my kids. I was doing a pretty good job this year avoiding the premature decorations. Then, we drove past Hobby Lobby the other day, and there are now Christmas trees in the display windows. Of course my son sees it ALL. He is especially perceptive to the things that I’m not yet ready for his eyes to see. It gets extremely frustrating to try to explain to the kids over and over that despite all the evidence staring them in the face, it’s NOT Christmas time yet!

Last year, I gave in November 1st and busted out The Polar Express. We actually put our tree up, GASP, before Thanksgiving!

Polar Express

Here’s my point and why I changed my original rule of thumb and why I want to encourage you to not feel guilty about doing the same if you feel so inclined.  Christmas is magical when they are little, and they are only little once. We only get so many magical Christmases with our precious little ones while they are young, so why NOT extend the holiday a bit? Now granted, we do need to keep Christmas special, and part of that includes keeping Christmas things for CHRISTMAS.  But really, what’s the harm in busting out a few things early? I’m not saying skip over Thanksgiving and bring out the tree before our pumpkins can even leave our porches. I’m just saying, if it truly brings joy to your babies, it’s okay to incorporate a little Christmas into your turkey dinners. The kids will remember these times forever. I do, however, draw the line at Halloween. But after the candy fest is over… “ALL ABOARD!!”

 Is it ever too soon for Christmas? Does your Thanksgiving turkey share space with your Christmas tree?