Happy November! The DCIB Christmas GiveAway has started, of course, because DCIB Christmas starts as soon as SRK Day is over. But what about the other signs of Christmas? My new shared household is having a debate related to “when does Margaret get to put up decorations all over the yard”. This is following my dawn raid the day after Halloween which removed all Halloween decorations and replaced them with a Christmas tree. The Christmas tree is allowed, but Halloween is still up also, and we are debating as to when I get to put up all my other stuff and finally hide Halloween in the basement where it belongs.
Look at our lovely Halloween/Christmas decorations! Yes, someone has already suggested gluing Santa hats on the ghosties.
Possible answers:
The day after Thanksgiving: the traditional American answer. Famously, during the depression, Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving back a week in order to extend the Christmas shopping season and help the economy. I sort of agree with this answer, because I like using the Thanksgiving 4 day weekend to clean and decorate my house. But at the same time, only one month of Christmas??? SO SHORT!!!
The Day the Local Radio Station Switches to All Holiday: In Chicago, WFMT (Your Source for the Holiday Lit) used to do all Christmas just the week before Christmas. Back when I was in college, it was the sign that my finals were over and I could start packing up for Christmas break. But they have slowly inched back through the calendar and I think currently they go for “one week after Halloween”. I use them as a “it’s okay for me to be thinking about Christmas, WFMT is already doing it!” measure, but not as my main measure any more.
Start of Advent: Nope! Too late! I reject this! Depending on when Sunday falls, this could seriously shorten your holiday celebration times.
The Day after That One Relative in Your Family Has Their December Birthday: To this day I think my mother was brainwashed by having a sibling with a December birthday. She seems to think Christmas starts at the absolute last minute, and I think it’s because her family used to wait until after her brother’s birthday to really go all out. Anyway, my housemate’s birthday is one week before Thanksgiving, so that might be the reasonable cut off, right?
Start of Holiday Movie Season: Like the Radio Station, this used to be reasonable. But now it’s all crazy and back before Halloween. Plus, SO MANY MOVIES. It’s gone from a guilty pleasure to an overwhelming task. So, not that.
First Day it Snows: This isn’t always viable, because it can snow for the first time anywhere from before Halloween to after New Years. But this year, the first snow is supposed to be THIS WEEKEND. That feels good, right? Fall is over, winter is starting, time to put up the lights.
Anyway, I’ve already changed Albie Dog into his Christmas sweater, but that’s just because he looks so cuuuuuuuuuuute.
dontcallitbollywood 
The day the local supermarket begins to aggressively want me to purchase the new Christmas chocolates. Which began sometime in the last couple of weeks. But I’ll wait until the last week of November to buy my traditional chocolate calendar.
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For me, it starts November 29th with the Festival of Lights – i.e., Hanukkah. 🙂
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December 8th – Feast of the Immaculate Conception it’s the official beginning of the season in Italy. I like this tradition a lot. We don’t have it in Poland and I was always confused when I should start putting the decorations and stuff. Here I don’t have this problem.
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Well, I can’t wait until December 8!!! But it would be nice if there was some sort of national agreement.
On Fri, Nov 12, 2021 at 2:32 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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NOT WFMT —- you mean WLIT
Huge difference.
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I’m a firm believer in Advent. It’s my defense mechanism against the Christmas cookies that start popping up in stores by the end of August nowadays. However, right about now is the moment when I notice the problems with that approach every year: It’s not just that it seems to make November extra grey when I don’t even allow myself any Christmas spirit yet. Because I get into that “No! It’s not Christmas yet” mood early on, I tend to get stuck in it – until it’s suddenly the middle of November already and I don’t have any idea for any present and I haven’t even started shopping for the little nick-nacks for the kids ‘ advent calendars.
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Oh oh! Is Big Boy going to get to pick out a present for Baby all by himself? Because that would be SUPER cute. You should do that.
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I can always have him paint a picture for her to eat …
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You have some serious Dickens Christmas Carol vibes going there :).
I have always been a leave me alone until after Thanksgiving person (I really like Thanksgiving and I think a lot of the shopping compulsion around Christmas has gotten gross). But… starting with the pandemic it felt like why postpone joy? Last year I put our lights up early and took them down late and went totally overboard with gifts because I missed everyone. This year with the supply chain blues I’m planning on reverting to pre-online shopping mode, buying fewer things, shopping locally, putting the boxes together myself and shipping them through the post office. This also means I have to start way earlier.
So my new answer is end of daylight savings time! The evening gets dark, the cold starts to kick in, and planning for the holidays gives you a bright spot to look forward to.
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Oh, this is nice! I’m going light on the lights this year, because I have them up literally year round. I bought some nice big white ball lights that I just have hanging in my front window lit up all the time. Why not have lights shining at night? People like it!
On Sat, Nov 13, 2021 at 9:56 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Typically Christmas season starts after Black Friday for me but nowadays it seems to be whenever the annual holiday rom-coms start coming out on Netflix.
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In Germany the last Sunday before 1. Advent is “Totensonntag” – you remember and honour the dead. This is a protestant church holiday where you (for example) visit the cemetery for putting flowers on the graves. Traditionally you should put up Christmas decoration only after this day.
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That’s nice! And if I am adding it up correctly, I think that lines up closely with the American Thanksgiving schedule?
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