AIBU to think this is ridiculous?

Just as well we live abroad because as far as my DH is concerned he could eat mince pies and hot cross buns all year round. He ordered so many boxes from a company that ships abroad last November that I was giving them to my lovely lady who cleans to take home. Only problem is she is now hooked on them and Christmas pudding . Nothing like them here.

I refuse to buy Mince Pies until 1st December, cards are written during 3rd week of November ready for posting on 1st December.

I buy bits & pieces of presents when they are on offer & usually get my DGS's Presents in October/November.

Witzend I was brought up in Yorkshire but in the shadow of Pendle Hill so Hallo'wen was a big thing when I was growing up. Trick or treating is definitely American Import. We also had "Mischief Night" on 4th November

Witzend thank you for saving me the bother of writing about the masses of Halloween rubbish in most shops! I completely agree with your post.

As for Christmas food stuffs I am not really tempted by chocolate or fruit cake or mince pies so I can resist. It's the savoury items I could stockpile and scoff well before the festive season. I have to stay away from them.

sandelf- totally agree with you (apart that I am not at all religious).

I try and spread out the buying of Christmas gifts, especially as virtually the whole family has a birthday between September and Christmas. I don’t put up decorations or make mince pies or open any Christmassy foods until a couple of weeks before the day itself, I think it spoils it, starting too early. I love Christmas, but not until December 1st at the very earliest!

Mince pies should be available all year round, after all, hot cross buns now are ( have just scoffed a buttered one,Tesco Finest range, very yummy.)

This is just another example of how the world around us is slowly going mad. We can expect Easter eggs next month.

I'm being quite canny this year, using some of the four weeks worth of Sainsbury £12 off a £60 shop vouchers I've been sent to buy seasonal bits for a hamper I'm making up for the inlaws. I am checking the best before dates carefully though.

I still make my own mincemeat, cake, pudding, etc, but often wonder why when there are so many wonderful shop-bought ones that actually cost less than the ingredients.

If it helps to spread the financial burden I suppose it's a good thing that Christmas items are for sale so early - especially if you need to send something abroad BUT otherwise it's much too early.
I don't want to think about it just yet.

Sandelf, nobody is obliged to buy into all that 'must-have' stuff. Many of us who really love Christmas don't, and don't let all the over-commercial pressure bother us.

Though I will guiltily admit to having abandoned my principles this year and bought a (cheap!) double Christmas duvet set for Gdcs who will be staying at Christmas for the first time. They will be sharing a sofa bed and since they're only 2 and 3, and I'm all too aware that the 'very little, easily delighted' stage passes so quickly, I thought, s*d it, why not...

I never eat traditional seasonal food at any other time but during that season, e.g. only eat hot cross buns at Easter and mince pies at Christmas, as this is what makes them special. The same with putting decorations in your home way before it’s necessary, it just spoils the occasion to have them before their time. It’s not special anymore.

Exactly Marianne (my secod name btw . but I have 2 years on you - patron Saint of France of course) - what is the point of seasons if we ignore them- and special occasions? For fruit and veg too.

sandelf , people who do not subscribe to the consumer fest which is Christmas are attacked and labelled mean and scrooge like.

I have never gone over the top and I never will. Elf on the shelf, Christmas Eve boxes etc the opportunities for spending and indulging are never ending.

The point is to sell more and further increase company profits!

I started following Martin Lewis's advice last year, and agreed with all my friends to stop buying tit for tat gifts (often with the emphasis on tat!) We all donate to charity instead, and life is so much more relaxed as a result. It just took someone to have the guts to suggest it, then everyone thought that it was a great idea.
As for food shopping, I know that stocking up with goodies too early will result in me backsliding on my healthy-eating, and putting the weight back on. I can resist everything but temptation! I have already been to too many McMillan coffee mornings, with delicious cakes on offer. The mince pies will have to stay on the shelves until Christmas week.

I must make a note to get some mince pies soon. Last year Tesco didn't have any in December - they had Easter Eggs instead.

Whatever happened to the twelve days of Christmas? Now that the decorations go up so early people are so fed up with it all that they can't wait to take it all down on Boxing Day!

Not in this house, Hilly!
Our decorations never go up until mid December, and they never come down until the 6th January.
I hate taking them down - January is miserable enough anyway, and personally I love seeing other people's Christmas trees in their windows earlier. (Though I do think before 1st December is way OTT.)

Lancslass1 - yes, mincemeat is great in baked apples!

Just call me 'Scrooge'! When I was younger I used to adore Christmas, all the preparation, the tree going up about a week before the big day, otherwise it would be dead or dropping badly by the 25th. Making the Christmas cake and pud were something to be enjoyed. The giving and receiving of gifts that you had hoped to get for months, and were so much appreciated.

Now however, for me it has been spoiled by all of the commercialism, and the fact that it seems so many of us are in the very lucky position of having too much stuff! This to the degree that gift buying has now become a nightmare, trying to think of something that the person hasn't already got, and even the children have everything they need and a whole lot more that they don't. I've now got to the point where I send the grandkids a cheque, although they'll be obsolete before much longer, so I suppose it'll be a bank transfer soon, lol. The real reason for the season has been totally forgotten with so many schools no longer doing the traditional 'nativity', for fear of upsetting children from other religions. The world has gone MAD, and I for one am not going with it. Last year I didn't even bother with a tree, which used to be such a source of delight in the winter darkness, but now just seems a complete waste of time and effort. To me instead of being a season of joy, it has become a time of depression at all of the waste in our society, while at the other end of the spectrum, people are sleeping on the streets, and would love a hot meal, and the home comforts which so many of us take for granted.

Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now, lol, so in answer to the OP's question, you're not being ridiculous at all.

Well said NudeJude . Part of me agrees wholeheartedly but the other part, the sentimental side, loves the smell and sounds and memories of Christmastime and the traditions which have built up over a lifetime.
Sharing the cooking. Baking the cake which people claim to dislike but which nevertheless gets eaten, carols on the radio, the promise of snow and a big family get together.
I decorate the real tree on Chritsmas eve.
I often buy last minute when prices are reduced.
Several friends of mine help with Crisis at Christmas and the weekly community meal in our town was held on Christmas Day last year.

No. And why should I?

I too, hate the commercialism of it all, and like you, used to love Christmas as a child, it was such a special time wasn't it - I'm talking about the 50s/60s here. I haven't had a tree for years now, but have used natural material for decoration, though I can't resist twinkly lights! We haven't exchanged gifts for years either, which many of my friends think a bit mean, but we ate at the age where we don't actually need anything, and if we did, then we would buy it. It's enough that we have each other, and have been able to live comfortably this last decade or so, with no money owed to anyone, no mortgage. Not rolling in it, or what some would consider 'well off', but enough to get by without worrying. Which is enough. I also hate that Christmas, Easter too, seem to start months ahead of their due dates. That you can get strawberries and such like, out of season. The biggest joy was waiting for those first Jersey Royals, the first brussel sprouts, the first soft fruits. Now it seems that all the seasons have been rolled into one when it comes to food production.
Making room on the soapbox....

Hello the furiner from Heidi mountains here - our tree goes up 2 days before Christmas - a real tree, with real candles
It is lit after dinner on Christmas eve, then after dinner on Christmas day when we do presents.

And then, it gets stucks outside in the snow and we light it again on New Years Eve - then it goes to the Mairie where it gets turned into woodchips for the school central heating

Our girls in the UK always said no-one else had a 'real' Christmas around us ;)

jura, I used to adore Heidi when it was on TV some 50 years ago. Infact I was heartbroken when it ended.

A friend of mine tried to do voluntary work over Christmas and often finds places have far too many volunteers and all the spaces are taken up months in advance.
There are many people who would rather be busy and away from the madness.