The new term for Christmas showing up in stores as early as September or October is Christmas creep, as in it creeps in and invades before anybody can stop it. And we really must stop this madness.
I’m no Scrooge, but there is jump-starting the holidays and there is going a bit too far too soon. Stores have emptying shelves of pumpkins and Wonder Woman costumes, while a shelf or two has turkey themed merchandise, and the real space is saved for inflatables and cards and decor galore. Ho ho oh no!
One major store promised they would not advertise Christmas early, then backpedaled and said they would put nothing on the outside of the store, while prep was already going on inside.
Dare I go into the details about how celebrating the most phenomenal birthday in human history has been conveniently moved to December 25? Dare I bring up the fact that commercialism and church are not really a pair, and yet we tend to do both only because of this date? Do I risk the ire of many by bringing up the fact that more people likely celebrate another December festivity rather than a Christian one, and yet somehow we always manage to stand on our personal beliefs like clouds of superiority and make others feel bad, while at the same time making ourselves look crass.
If Christmas became more of a holiday for giving of ourselves, rather than a retail nightmare–more like the wise men who honored goodness by bringing things they apparently had made or earned themselves–maybe stores would devote more than November and December to providing things we really need, and less of the junk that is forgotten within a week of its coming out of the wrappers.
Maybe the Christmas creep is who we see in our own mirrors.
Susan's Scribblings the Blog 