No, I’m not a Scrooge, but don’t call the holidays the most wonderful time of the year, especially since Christmas arrives earlier and earlier every year.

Weeks before Thanksgiving, Beaver Valley Mall had Christmas lights hanging from the ceiling, reindeer by the kiddie train, and children taking pictures with Santa.

Why are people decorating for Christmas so early? Other holidays (like Easter, Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, etc.) get their own day and sometimes a week or two of anticipation beforehand to decorate, but Christmas now consumes months, sometimes even stealing the spotlight from Halloween. These autumn holidays, like Halloween and Thanksgiving, deserve their own time to shine, especially when winter doesn’t even technically start until December 21.

Plus, with all the hype surrounding Christmas you would think the holiday fanatics would want to conserve the holiday spirit—at least restricting it to December. Unfortunately, many people put up their lights and decorations early in the fall, and then leave up their lights for months after Christmas ends, sometimes leaving them up year round. How is that special?

On top of all that, companies only care about holiday spenders’ money, so these companies start their Christmas marketing as soon as possible. Nothing undermines the holiday spirit more than such obvious commercialism.

And don’t get me started on Christmas music. It plays way too early for my liking. At least wait until the first of December. Listening to the same Christmas tunes year after year gets annoying (even though I enjoy a few of the classics once in a while).

Don’t get me wrong; even with the repetition the holidays inevitably bring, I enjoy the family aspect of Christmas. The best part is spending time with the people you care about and seeing the reactions of these friends and family when they unwrap the gifts you gave to them.

So let’s focus on those important elements, tune out the hype, and just enjoy the holidays’ true spirit!