It’s that time of year! Halloween is over, the leaves are falling, the air is getting colder, sweaters are being worn, and Thanksgiving is just aweek away. Some of us, however, have moved quickly past the fall season and think it’s suddenly winter and are already celebrating the Christmas season.
But is it really the Christmas season?
Is it really time to enter an entire Christmas state of mind?
Is it really time to play Christmas music 24 hours a day, seven days a week?
Is it really Hallmark Christmas movie time?
Is it really time to listen to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You?” every day?
Every year just before Thanksgiving there are two types of people. There are people who are ready for Christmas and people who are straight up not.
The day after Halloween, social media platforms were immediately filled with people posting their favorite cliché Christmas memes, songs, and videos, and a separate group of people commenting in their disagreements that’s it’s too darn soon for Christmas.
Christmas might be the greatest time of the year…in December.
For Katherine Ellis ’20, her feelings on the early celebration of Christmas are a little complicated.
“I think I feel anti-Christmas before Thanksgiving because [Thanksgiving] is a very big holiday in my family. We always kept it separate when I was growing up,” she said. “[But] because of my involvements with Chapel Choir, I’ve had to learn to be pro-Christmas right now because we’ve been preparing Christmas music for ‘Lessons and Carols’ since the middle of October.”
Thomas O’Brien ’19 wants to check a box that says Christmas music is okay once a week.
“I’m torn because I usually like to keep Thanksgiving and Christmas separate, but I’m not opposed to Christmas music right now,” O’Brien said.
There are students who are extremely anti-Christmas-before-Thanksgiving. One of the many students include Julia Joseph ’18, who gives it a “hard no.”
Joseph sees it unacceptable to not even listen to Christmas music on the ride home from Thanksgiving dinner.
“I usually start getting in the Christmas spirit on Black Friday. That’s when it should officially begin,” she said.
Elisabeth Abdoo ’20 agrees with Joseph.
“You have to make it through Thanksgiving before getting in the Christmas spirit,” Abdoo said. “Thanksgiving is such an underrated holiday as it is, and playing Christmas music before Thanksgiving completely overlooks the beauty of the Thanksgiving holiday.”
So, according to Loyola students there are many mixed feelings. Some students are already in the Christmas spirit, while others can wait until after they enjoy a large turkey dinner with their families.
Either way, the holiday season is among us, or it’s the greatest time of the year. Maybe it doesn’t matter when we start celebrating, so long as we take the time to appreciate our friends, family, and the amazing holiday food.