Christmas Before Thanksgiving: Settled By My 5 Year Old
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I was reflecting recently on the meaning of life.
Just kidding, I was actually reflecting on the debate as to whether it is acceptable to participate in Christmas and/or Christmas-oriented activities prior to the Thanksgiving holiday.
I myself have wavered throughout the years. There was a point in time that I was fully ready to start the Christmas festivities in September. Then there was the year that I had my tree up until February because I just couldn’t quite let the holiday go.
For the past few years my family and I have adopted the tradition of decorating the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We get a real Christmas tree that day, pull the decorations out of storage and make over the house into festive glory. We play Christmas music and watch Christmas movies. It creates amazing memories and puts us all in a good mood.
But do you know what Christmas is besides gifts and decor?
Christmas is emotion-based. You know what else is emotion-based? Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is a time to count your blessings for what you have and to be grateful for the historic events that have shaped us and our country.
Christmas is also a time to count your blessings. And it is also a time to be grateful for the historic events that have shaped us and the world that we live in.
You know the feeling that you get when you pull out the family photo albums or watch old home videos? You have that warmness in your heart as you reminisce about all the memories that you have made throughout the years.
And do you know how a certain song can take you back to a specific place or time in your life just by coming on the radio? By hearing that song you are transported back to a time that you had otherwise forgotten.
For all of 2019, my five year old daughter has gone to sleep at night listening to Christmas music. At first we laughed about it, and then we were like – okay child, time to move on. But then we just let it go. Really, what is the harm?
Christmas music for her is calming. It makes her happy and reminds her of the memories we shared around the holidays together. It affords her peace and comforts her as she enters a dream-like state. The words within these songs are filled with positivity and reflections on the wonderfulness of life and joyfulness. It’s hard not to be happy when you listen to things like that. Just like it’s hard to not laugh when you’re listening to a comedian.
Christmas Before Thanksgiving: Settled By My 5 Year Old
When I see the first snowfall, or a decorated Christmas tree, or the image of a family surrounding a big turkey dinner, my emotions are the same. I get a flutter of excitement and I think about the memories of the past, the memories still to come, and how fortunate I truly am in this amazing life that I am afforded. This is why I love hygge. It’s those feelings wrapped up in different life elements.
So therefore, why does it matter if people listen to Christmas music on November 1st? If they start decorating before Thanksgiving? If it fills them with happiness, is it really such a travesty? Think about it – if someone eats turkey in September, we don’t complain – it’s perfectly acceptable. But if someone listens to music that is typically seasonal outside of that time, or changes the decor of their home, it’s a big issue.
And I don’t care what anyone says – if LFO’s Summer Girls comes on in December, you best believe that I will be rocking out without a care in the world.
Just try to take that away from me, I dare you.
The purpose of both Thanksgiving and Christmas is quite similar in reality. Whatever gets people into the frame of mind to be grateful for the blessings that they have is individual. The end result of people being happy, peaceful and thankful is all that matters.
And if you don’t like the music, or the decor, it is okay too. Although it can be problematic to tune it out (have you tried to tune out country music in the south? It’s quite difficult), it is still possible. And it’s only for a short period of time. Just like I had to do on my southern vacation, keep in mind that although it’s not ideal for you, it is temporary. And others are in a wonderful state of mind because of it.
