Christmas Peer Pressure

It's early October. We're happily sipping away on our pumpkin lattes and nibbling on a cider donut when we see it, right in the New Hartford Walmart: a Christmas display. Suddenly, our donut doesn't taste as good.

Every retailer wants to gain an advantage in being the first to get your dollars. We see back-to-school displays going up in July, Halloween starting in August - and now Christmas trees on October 1st. What happened to Thanksgiving? Or do we just not have time for that holiday anymore, since it's not as hugely commercial as Halloween and Christmas?

When these displays appear months before their actually needed, it sends a subtle message that you should already be making progress on your holiday wish list, and if you aren't, then why not? We all have that friend who's done with all their holiday shopping in early-November - everything wrapped, with coordinating bows and paper. Secretly, we want to punch them because we know our holiday shopping will include a Christmas Eve sprint to grab a few more stocking stuffers.

Stop pressuring us, retailers! Let me gorge myself on leftover Halloween candy, and to at least start to plan Thanksgiving dinner before you start with the Jingle Bells and the Christmas trees. 

Let us be satisfied that we could actually find costumes for the kids, and that we managed to carve our jack-o-lanterns before Halloween.

Let's live in the moment, at least until November.

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