Christmas in January

maybe my circle of influence has an inordinate amount of scrooges as members or maybe i just caught everyone on a bad day- scratch that - a bad WEEK or maybe this is a small indicator that Christmas this year is not a Christmassy as years past. that there are a lot more people having to work at getting into the yuletide spirit than those who are just basking in it. . .

i think this downward trend in the economics of merriment can be attributed to an over-saturation of the market place strategy to bring Americans the opportunity to buy all the trappings of Christmas earlier in the calendar year.

in other words. . .
STOP HARKING CHRISTMAS WARES IN OCTOBER - right after the going-back-to-school sales!
PUT CHRISTMAS BACK WHERE IT BELONGS - right after the non-commericalized "Turkey Day" and right before the much needed "Bring on the new year."

we could all deal with the roughly 4 weeks from Thanksgiving to Christmas. it was crunch time - we all knew it and were committed to cramming as many parties, brunches, services, and get-togethers as we could squeeze around those LIMITED number of shopping days.

with a limited number of shopping days - there were real-time expectations of what one could and could not accomplish (please exclude that suzy snowflake in your circle of friends who now raises her own ginger in her year-round indoor aero-garden for her exquisitely designed and crafted gingerbread houses and men, and women, and children, and all the inhabitants of the North Pole, and all the creatures and animals in the last Narnia movie whether they could talk or not. she is an anomaly and cannot be included in our calculations to determine average level of festive expectation).

LIMITED number of shopping days = LIMITED amount of expectations.

i only have X amount of money to spend on Christmas. especially in this economy, i have to practice economy. giving me more days to spend my money and thus the opportunity to blow the whole shabang early in the game only leads to me having more time to brood over what i have already spent and get miserly with what i have left. . . and leading to unrealistic expectations that the retailers should lower their prices yet again and again and again as the holiday d-day approaches.

i admit, i am stressed out. i shouldn't be. over the last few years, we have down-scaled our merry-making, cookie baking, gift giving, card sending Christmas - trying to remind ourselves what is important - focusing on the real reason of the season. but this year i have found myself getting caught up in the negativity instead of the nativity. and that's nobody's fault but mine. so i am not going to read, watch or listen to the daily news (the federal deficit doesn't need my attention or approval to continue to "deficit"). instead i am going to surround myself with friends and family who don't mind my protective killer dust bunnies under the couch or the lack of this year's hottest decorations. . .

on the other hand. . . this week a friend told me that with all the stress of planning an awesome celebration and everyone's hectic schedules and tight budgets, her work is having The Holiday Party in January so everyone can enjoy it. . .