OK, maybe it’s not really, but the signs are already there that it soon WILL look that way. It’s not like you can tell by the weather. In North Carolina, you can wear shorts and short sleeves well past Thanksgiving. In a place that sees less than 4 inches of snow a year on average, the weather is hardly a good indicator of the season.
Nope, I base it on something much more reliable than the weather. I saw my first displays of Christmas merchandise in stores at the beginning of this month. I can almost forget about that, though, because it does take time and planning to decorate, especially if someone is going to go all Martha Stewart and stuff. It seems like the big hobby stores have their stuff out by the 4th of July.
That’s somewhat understandable.
This was Target, though, that not only has decorations and Christmas cards out already, but they’re playing Christmas carols in that department. It’s not store-wide yet although I suspect that will change on Sunday, when November arrives and we are suddenly thrust IN THE SEASON.
Having worked retail at Montgomery Wards for many, many years in high school and college, I can’t imagine listening to that same tape over and over and over for all of those weeks. There, the music didn’t start until Thanksgiving weekend and it still drove us crazy after the first two or three days. Of course, there aren’t nearly as many clerks in a store now as there was then so it doesn’t impact quite as many people.
Small comfort if you’re stationed under a speaker playing Muzak versions of the same 15 carols over and over and over.
The other thing I’ve noticed is the toy-push that’s happening on television already. Kiddie toys aren’t just advertised on Saturday mornings or during the day any more. Now, they’re being hyped during prime-time adult programs, I suspect to get the discretionary grandparent dollars that might be available. After all, Nana and Paw-Paw have to know what the kiddies are begging for before they can be expected to go and buy them.
The first television commercial playing a Christmas Carol (that I saw, anyhow) appeared last week, too, but it was for some place offering to buy your old gold and jewelry to give you Christmas money, so I’m not sure if that counts.
I’m not sure that I’m ready to even anticipate Christmas ’09 yet, although it’s gotten much easier over the last few years. The kids are now old enough to make specific requests, and then to follow it up by sending links to the items online. They recognize the value of having something shipped directly to the house, and that it takes time for Santa’s little UPS elves to get all of their chores done.
The magic of the surprise may be gone a bit, but as they’ve gotten older they’ve learned that surprise can be offset by getting exactly what you want instead. Surprise is left primarily to grandparents who have more time to shop.
In our family we don’t do presents with adults in the family any more, having decided that we already have too much ‘stuff’ and not wanting to add to it. Instead, especially as the senior family members have fallen away over the last few years, we recognize the gifts of conversation and time are much better, plus they don’t have to be stored or dusted. We also like the experience of travel, and those experiences make a gift that never goes out of style as well.
So I don’t think I’ll drag the decorations out of the attic just yet. I need at least a little bit of chill in the air to begin to get in the mood, and that’s not possible while the trees still have leaves on them.
But it’s coming, sooner than we realize.
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