UTAH TECH UNIVERSITY'S STUDENT NEWS SOURCE | March 29, 2024

OPINION | November too early for Christmas celebrations

Nowadays, some people choose to put up their Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving. Sydney Johnson believes that Thanksgiving should not be overshadowed by the anticipation of Christmas. Photo by Misha Mosiichuk.

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This Thanksgiving, I am grateful I do not participate in diminishing Thanksgiving as a holiday by decorating too early for Christmas.

It’s going to be a no for me when it comes to Christmas before Thanksgiving. I know you’ve heard of Christmas in July, but have you heard of Christmas in November? No, I am going to guess you haven’t because Christmas should not override the Thanksgiving celebrations in November.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan of Christmas colors, music, spirit and gift-giving; however, Thanksgiving is such an incredible holiday and it should get its full appreciation; Christmas’ time will come.

According to Dictionary.com, the meaning of Thanksgiving is the act of giving thanks, a public celebration in acknowledgment of divine favor or kindness, and a day set apart for giving thanks to God.

Growing up, in my family we never set up Christmas before Thanksgiving. It was our tradition to decorate our entire home for Christmas on Black Friday; the day after Thanksgiving. For me, it is a super fun tradition because we are still able to have a beautiful Thanksgiving set up for all of November with aesthetic fall colors and decorations. After that Thursday of Thanksgiving though, it is time for Christmas.

Why would we try to take away the importance of a holiday where the point is to be grateful for what we already have? If there are bright green, red and sparkles all over the home, the meaning of Thanksgiving gets diminished and forgotten.

According to The Butler Collegian, Christmas themed drinks and cups from Starbucks can wait.

Instead, Starbucks should come out with their Christmas cups and drinks on Dec. 1 instead of in November. This could be a tradition everyone gets excited for as they will be at Starbucks all month getting holiday spirit through their daily coffee.

Don’t give in to the Christmas marketing pressure done by several companies trying to get you to buy Christmas stuff before Thanksgiving. This will stress you out more than necessary and take away the importance of Thanksgiving.

Halloween gets all of October, Valentine’s Day gets all of February, St. Patricks Day gets all of March, therefore Thanksgiving deserves at least most of November and Christmas deserves all of December.

According to The Paisano: “Thanksgiving is a holiday that shouldn’t be overshadowed by eager people wanting to celebrate Christmas; it should be treated with the same respect as other holidays are… We don’t start Valentine’s decor before New Years, so why would we start Christmas before Thanksgiving?”

I do understand it is a good idea to get started on Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving. There is nothing wrong with doing this as long as we are remembering Thanksgiving and not diminishing its importance; however, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are great days to start off the Christmas season of shopping and gift-giving. So, let’s slow down our excitement for Christmas and enjoy the season of giving thanks.