Hi all,
I’m somewhat offended by seeing Halloween items in stores while it is still August. Come on! It’s technically still summer and beach weather! Halloween is totally fall!
Be it reminds me that Christmas is not that far away (Ahem, COTH Secret Santa). I cannot possibly announce this before Halloween. It’s just wrong.
An August heads-up.
-J-Lu
No see, we are skipping everything between now and Halloween. Not sure about Labor Day, though, there should be some sales. And we’ve already shoehorned in the First Day of School, which comes earlier and earlier.
I know this from being in the stores. Except one store where we are definitely doing football season between First Day of School and Halloween.
Last year as well, Halloween commenced at least by early September. Then about a week or two before Actual Halloween on Oct. 31st, we skipped ahead and went straight to Christmas AKA Santa’s Day AKA The Winter Holiday, depending on your point of view.
Last year I never saw any Thanksgiving decorations in the stores, so that’s how I know that we skipped it. As a society, that is, of course as individuals YMMV.
But skipping Thanksgiving last year really made a much easier transition from Over-The-Top Halloween to Over-The-Top Santa’s Day.
I’m ready to cut out a few of the major holiday celebrations. It seems that some have been added or expanded over the years. If we could dial back all of them, I would support that.
I mentioned last week on the venting thread that I’d seen a bit of Christmas merchandise out next to 4th of July clearance. Today I saw Christmas candy. It wasn’t called out as Christmas, but red and green Hershey’s kisses are pretty clearly not Halloween.
Labor Day and Thanksgiving aren’t profitable for retailers, so why bother?
Grey
I have seen the same as Gray623
Christmas items have been in stores here since the end of July, must be left over stuff from 2022 as to hear the shippers complaints about the low water in the Panama Canal delaying container ships warning of shortages of Christmas goods.
Actually I am pretty much done with listening to the oh my god there is going to be another shortage. The stores made a killing jacking up prices then and want to do so again.
I just stopped spending.
Seems like I’ve been making too many trips to Lowe’s, Home Depot and Costco lately, and each visit I notice more and more Halloween decorations. Huge, gargantuan animated monsters and witches, plus all sorts of jack-o-lantern displays. I’m all for summer getting over so I can look forward to the crisp, cool days of autumn. But Halloween is at the end of October. Why the long build-up?
Then I know the next phase. Shopping baskets of 1/2 priced bags of trick-or-treat candy will be parked in front of the grocery store checkout stands while tinsel garland hangs over my head and Jingle Bells is blaring on the PA. Meanwhile, the Thanksgiving turkeys have just been brought out of the deep freeze (because it’s only November 3rd).
A little off topic, but Thanksgiving and Christmas were always stressful in my home as a child/teen because of extended family dysfunction. Last year our immediate family missed Christmas because of illness, and it was so much less stressful (even though we were sick). We got together with grandparents in January instead, and somehow, the pressure was gone, simply because the date was different. I’m sure there’s some complex psychology behind all of this, but I do know that the pressure that cultural holidays exert is just overwhelming sometimes. The pressure to “feel” something special coupled with the need to spend more than is realistic is quite a load. I honestly wouldn’t miss them if we started over with a blank calendar.
I’ll support that.
When holidays aren’t fun any more, it’s time to rethink, is my opinion. Sometimes not even because of relationship dysfunction, but just because of the pressure to do too many things, make everything happen a certain way, and, of course, spend unwisely.
We have a one-day extended family celebration that is actually a lot of fun. And it doesn’t require weeks of overwrought preparation and extra events to pull that off. 
I admit that I’ve been a member of the Bah Humbug Club for quite a while, but I like your idea of restructuring celebrations to fit the family rather than the other way round (and not feeling guilty about it)! Thank you!
OK, I’ll plan to announce COTH SS on November 1 or 2. But I just can’t do it before Halloween.
Keep it in the back of your minds! It’s coming!!
Thank you for doing this. It’s always fun for me since I don’t have family here (other than my immediate, DH and sometimes my niece, which I’m thankful for). So I always put my SS gift under the tree and open it on Christmas morning. I enjoy that. So, thanks!
Same here. Christmas used to be a grand celebration in my family. But as the years pass things change. Now SS is something I really look forward to!
The holiday season is pretty jolly for me and mine. I like socializing with my extended family. We are accustomed to our eccentricities and don’t bother hiding them.
I avoid work holiday things if at all possible.
It’s hard to enjoy browsing Christmas decor though when I’m still sweating hot. I’ll be changing my front porch decor after Monday to a fall theme. I already have a fall tableau set up in my kitchen. I don’t go in for separate Halloween and Thanksgiving decor, just “fall” then Christmas stuff after Thanksgiving.
I’m looking forward to SS a lot. I’d always meant to participate in it, but forgot about it and missed the deadline.
My reason is that, like others here, Christmas has changed quite a bit in my family. A few years ago, there was even a huge dramatic scene over where to have Christmas Eve and I wound up spending it in a crappy motel room with my dog. Things have settled down somewhat, but it’s definitely not Ye Old Hallmark Movie.
Therefore, I have done various SS, been Grinched a couple of times, but still it’s something to look forward to. Also, I love to shop.
Yes! I’m definitely in SS this year. Confirmed and everything. 
Really? you’ve been Grinched? Did you have de-Grinchers come to your rescue?
Same with me. Christmas was a grand affair in my family, but it’s been years since anything like that took place, and I’m not even in the same state as my relatives (what’s left of them). So Secret Santa is my big whoop-tee-do.
(And it gives me a reason to shop and wrap presents) 
@J-Lu I was Grinched when I took part in other SS, not COTH. This is the first year I’m taking part in the COTH SS. I should have been more specific!
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