Elves in October?

I've been meaning to write on this topic for exactly 25 days now and I just kept either forgetting or found something else more pressing at the moment to write about. But the day, today, has come for me to talk about Christmas. That one time of year in which we celebrate the act of giving and the love and warmth towards our family and friends. Oh wait. Did I say one time of year? I meant a good two months, at least! I walked into the Superstore here in Charlottetown on the evening of October 31st (Halloween!) and stopped dead in my tracks when seeing the vast array of Christmas decorations already hanging around the store. Halloween wasn't even done yet and there were giant cardboard elves all around me! Did I enter into the twilight zone or something??

My heart sunk. Not because Christmas was coming but because Christmas commercialization had started and would not end for at least another 55 days. Plus everyone is always saying things like, "Only 47 more shopping days until Christmas," or, "Only 3 more paychecks until Christmas!" as though this will send me into a mass shopping frenzy.

Now I love Christmas. I really do. It is so warm and comforting and I just love the feeling that the time of year brings to myself and to everyone else who is a fan of it. I love the holiday baking and the spices which generally are used in abundance during the season (cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves...YUM!) I love the memories of us girls all decorating the tree together while listening to the same 1975 John Denver Christmas record every year. My favourite part would be Christmas Eve when we'd put out the plate of cookies for Santa and some carrots for the reindeer. There's also the movies which I generally watch only during this time of year, such as my two favourites, White Christmas and The Santa Clause. And even though they are now being sold all year round, Christmas is the one time of year that I don't feel guilty for consuming obscene amounts of Toblerone bars.

It just makes me sad that by the time Christmas comes we're already sick of hearing the songs playing in the stores and we're so stressed out about finding "that perfect gift" for everyone on our Christmas list that we can't enjoy the time of year. They have also taken away some specialness of some of the candies which used to be only sold during the holidays but are now sold all year round. Knowing you can get these foods any time takes away the novelty of waiting for them to hit the shelves in December. Plus everyone keeps asking me what I want for Christmas when I honestly don't want anything and I end up feeling guilty for not having an answer to the question. I just want a flight home that doesn't get delayed or cancelled due to the weather, some snow to play in with my niece and the dogs when I get to BC, a lot of good food, drink and family times, and another safe flight back to PEI when it's all over.

I hope it doesn't sound like I'm complaining too much because Christmas is great. I just wish they would pass some law so that the decorations and music couldn't hit the stores until December 1st so that we're not bombarded by it all for such an extended amount of time. We're all so stressed out as it is already...do we really need another constant reminder that there are still more things to add to our "to do" lists?

And yeah, you've guessed right. I haven't started my Christmas shopping yet. How can you tell?