Depiction of managing editor Aidan Gregg’s calendar. Graphic by Abby Hoehn.
SILAS OWENS | OPINION COLUMNIST | szowens@butler.edu
At 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 1 this year, one of my suitemates put a Yule log fire on the TV. I sat on the floor gazing at it and put on Laufey’s new Christmas EP which she had released half an hour earlier. Halloween was over and Christmas had officially begun.
Two years ago I wouldn’t have dared to do this and probably would have criticized anyone who did.
I come from a family of puritanical believers in the “Christmas only after Thanksgiving” ideology. Listening to a single Christmas song before decoration day — the Saturday after Thanksgiving — was a sin. Any house we passed with lights up in November was deemed heretical. Fortunately, I have since moved on from this anti-joy fundamentalism.
The holiday season is all about good vibes. Activities with friends and family, like decorating, giving gifts and baking cookies, simply make people happy, and people should be able to do those things as early as they wish without judgment.
Senior strategic communication major Madison Tinsley has already ordered a tree, lights and stockings, and explained that she loves decorating with the people she loves.
“We put a lot of effort into making [everything] really pretty,” Tinsley said. “I feel really bad about putting all this effort into something that’s only from after Thanksgiving to right after Christmas … It just brings me so much joy and all of my roommates are so excited to set up for Christmas.”
Why shouldn’t we feel warm and cozy and beautiful in early November? If you have ever felt the urge to criticize someone for being decorative and cheerful out of season, then you have some reevaluating to do.
First, consider that the person wearing a chunky sweater, sipping a peppermint mocha and listening to the Charlie Brown Christmas album on loop is probably happier than you; maybe your life would be better if you joined them. Second, other people’s harmless fun is none of your damn business. If you want to be a joyless Scrooge until December, feel free to make that choice for yourself, but not for others.
Dylan Kissling, a sophomore math and computer science double major, described how he would respond to criticism of his early dorm décor.
“Realistically I just say ‘Okay, I’m having fun,’” Kissling said. “But alternatively, hit them with the ‘womp womp’ and start blasting Mariah Carey.”
Womp womp indeed.
Supporters of “Christmas only after Thanksgiving” might believe that early decoration takes away from Thanksgiving. I say this with all due respect to Thanksgiving, but it is not a season; it’s merely a day. Christmas is a season.
Most Thanksgiving decorations are actually just fall decorations and would make just as much sense in September. There are no Thanksgiving music radio stations. The Thanksgiving activities — eating a meal with family, watching football and avoiding politics — primarily occur on the day itself and maybe a day or two before and after.
“It’s not that I take away from Thanksgiving,” Tinsley said. “It’s just that if I happen to have Thanksgiving dinner with my Christmas tree set up, then I do.”
Thanksgiving will not be offended if your Christmas décor overlaps with it. Remember, if you don’t want your Christmas tree up at Thanksgiving that is okay! But also know that doesn’t make you better than anyone else.
A case can even be made for occasional interjections of holiday spirit completely out of season. Some Christmas songs — Last Christmas in particular — deserve to be acknowledged for more than a month and a half out of the year. A harmlessly rebellious Christmas sing-along in July — even if it’s ironic — is just fun.
Sophomore elementary education major Riley Pratt likes to have a bit of holiday spirit year-round.
“It creates conversations with other people,” Pratt said. “As soon as someone sees a Christmas cup before Christmas, they’re like, ‘Why do you have that?’ … In May [my friends and I] were driving around our hometown playing [Christmas] songs … We’re in a positive space while we’re listening to Christmas songs and other people are judging us, so we’re judging them back.”
So when should the Christmas season actually begin? If you really want a specific date, the answer is Nov. 1. This lets people avoid overlapping with Halloween, although a reindeer Halloween costume would be respectable.
The wonderful thing about when the Christmas season begins, though, is that my answer does not need to be your answer. If you want to go all out with your Thanksgiving decorations and won’t have room for a Christmas tree until afterward, do your thing and take pride in it. If having Christmas lights in your dorm room on move-in day jingles your bells, put up your lights and love them. Enjoy the control you have over your personal holiday spirit and let other people enjoy theirs.
