Nothing more irks me than turning on the car radio to hear Mariah Carey on a sunny warm autumn day in the middle of October. Why, of all things, do people allow Christmas music when the season is still one-hundred percent not winter?

In my past experiences, I can name three different people that exist during the transition from fall to winter. Those who enjoy each season for what it is, people who can’t live without the sweet joyous tunes of the holidays before Halloween, and the people who have a head on their shoulders and wait till after Thanksgiving to put up the tree and strings of lights. 

I hope one can guess my stance on this subject by now. and I am completely aware that somebody is willing to go to war with me right now. Now, I get the fact that appreciating holidays before they come is acceptable. 

I start to have a problem when I see snowflakes and Santas in every store window I drive past three months in advance. 

Now, I do need to take a step back. Yes, Christmas is a very special holiday for many people, including traditions, families, and gift-giving. However, the more I look into it, the more and more people start to feel the Christmas spirit less and less the older we get. 

As a child, the importance of the tinsel-wrapped celebration pounded into my head with the many Hallmark movies and hot chocolate drinks I was able to get my hands on. Candy canes and snowballs all make it into my core memories for winter, cementing the magic into a tangible idea that stuck with me until figuring out Santa was not real. 

Whether someone believes in the jolly man or not, there is something to also be said about too much of something. Take, for example, the plethora of turkey being consumed over the break. Turkey sandwiches, turkey salad, turkey whatever-the-heck-my-relatives-came-up-with all make me want to be sick after a solid week of consumption. 

The same can be said for the Christmas spirit. When one decides to decorate their house with lights and ornaments right after Halloween is over, the spirit is stretched thin. With more over a long period, the less there is when a person truly wants the days and nights to be filled with sparkles and snowflakes. Nine in ten Americans celebrate Christmas, according to the Pew Research Center, meaning with so many people partaking in the holiday, the more likely it is to be Christmas-ed out. 

A result of this is winter being smashed into a conglomerate of icicles, candy, pumpkins, leaves, and candy canes. The season is not evenly dispersed, as all three holidays fight for dominance with one clear winner each time. The line blurs, and the season gets confused with its identity, unable to define how fast time is moving without the designated spots for thanksgiving or Halloween. 

The conundrum that I just described does not happen to just people who celebrate early, but to all who know these people too. The feeling is wasted all around, causing a chain reaction of missed opportunities and numb days and nights of waiting for something. 

However, I do have hope, a way of making time move slower and being able to enjoy the season’s greetings one step at a time. I never break this rule I impose on myself, which inadvertently allows Christmas to feel true and magical. 

The golden rule is no Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. Nothing before, only after, and nobody forbade its musical jingling to defrost before Halloween eve.