It is common for many to buy Christmas decorations earlier than necessary since stores put up and sell their Christmas decorations right when Halloween is over. Buying Christmas goods early motivates many to celebrate Christmas early; however, that’s not a problem since there is no such thing as celebrating Christmas too soon.
According to YouGov, one-third of Americans believe that Christmas is the best holiday of the year. Starting the celebration of an exciting and festive occasion early spreads out the holiday happiness over a longer period of time. Feeling the holiday joy longer can make the Christmas season more enjoyable and loving.
For students, Christmas lies after final exams are over; so having small Christmas celebrations or activities can make the final exam season less dreadful. Because of the immense amount of pressure students experience during finals, students need to relieve their stress, and one way to relieve it is romanticizing Christmas. Students can celebrate Christmas early as it serves as an inspiration for students to study hard for finals and get through each day building up to winter break.
Paige Bergman (12) says, “Christmas activities motivate me to get through final exam season. Usually, my friends and I hang out and do small Christmas celebrations towards the end of November or at the very start of December because it’s a way for us to keep our minds off finals and academic stress in general.”
In some parts of the world, celebrating Christmas early is very common. Australians celebrate their Christmas in July, which is known as Yulefest or Yuletide because July is the coldest month of the year while December is a summer month. To maintain the tradition of celebrating Christmas during the cold weather, people in not only Australia, but also New Zealand, South Africa and other southern hemispheric countries celebrate Christmas in July.
For other cultures, Christmas overall plays a large role in their customs and traditions. In the Philippines, Christmas celebrations and decorations are held once September begins and lasts until the end of December. Christmas is an important holiday for many Filipinos because of their deep faith in Catholicism, so they spend several months preparing and building up to Christmas Day.
Rose Tabatabaei (12) comments, “I have many Filipino friends here and back in Dubai. I noticed that most of them start putting up their Christmas trees and decorations once Halloween is over. Filipinos overall are just very passionate about Christmas.”
Even though celebrating Christmas early may make Christmas Day less exciting, it is difficult to avoid getting into the holiday spirit when Christmas music already starts playing in the second week of November, and social media is filled with Christmas-related posts by the time Halloween is over.
Preparing and doing Christmas activities way before Christmas is normalized today and should continue to be normalized because it brings people joy transitioning during the holiday season. Afterall, there is no right or wrong time to celebrate Christmas, so there shouldn’t be anything preventing an early celebration of Christmas.
