It is I believe on.y the 18/11 but I have just seen my first Christmas tree in a house.?

The family across the street have put their tree up. I think it's a bit early for me, but if it makes their sons happy, who am I to judge? When I was working, I put up the tree etc the weekend before Christmas. Now I'm retired, I put it up at the beginning of December as it's nice to look at in the dark nights. It'll come down before New Year though. My friends and I have stopped giving presents as none of us need stuff. We go out for a meal instead. I've radically cut down on the amount of presents and cards I give too. It's all got a bit too materialistic for me.

On my way to book club this week I saw a house with outside decorations up and fully lit. Each to their own but Christmas means December for me.

I prefer Christmas to be fairly traditional. I don't like to think about it before December and dislike the tatty commercialism which has been gathering momentum over the last 40years. It should last 12 days (til Epiphany) and decorations come down and stored away on the 6th January. Lots of fun and feasting! We always had a little party on the 5th January before the tree was dismantled on the 6th. However some cultures celebrate differently. I have Filipino friends who start decorating in September! Which is normal for them???. ?

My daughter put their tree up last week. It is too early for me though I have bought some wooden tree decorations online because the post is so bad I thought they might take months to arrive !

We put our decorations up about a week before Christmas. I think the more hype the more people are going to be disappointed by their experience of Christmas. I like Christmas but we celebrate it in a modest way materially. I am a Christian and enjoy the church services and love seeing family.I try to be mindful of avoiding waste and not buying excessive plastic stuff.

I’m still trying to find 31st November on my calendar….

Always done mine the first weekend in December.

I think that after the last 20 months people need a bit of sparkle and happiness, we were under curfew last year, so I look forward to seeing them even though it’s early. I will put mine up in about weeks time.

Saw my first tree at the end of October, anything goes nowadays. Mine won’t go up until the week before Christmas, something to look forward to.

We have a house nearby that never takes their coloured lights down and has them on all year round.

I drove past a house yesterday that had the full complement of Christmas lights in the garden. A Father Christmas on the roof and an illuminated rope ladder hanging down the front of the house, 2 x 6 foot illuminated reindeers, an enormous illuminated sleigh with illuminated boxes in it and the whole house bedecked with fairy lights. Every window had a lit Christmas tree in it. I thought it was a tad early but each to their own!

I will put my real tree up about 10 days before Christmas. I dont like to see it in November, but that my choice, others can do what they want.
I love the magic of the season, and to me that starts in December.

sago I personally don’t mind the lights, in fact I think it would be a good idea to start them later say a week or two - at the earliest before Christmas Day; then leave them up for longer to brighten Gloomy January.

The other Christmassy hype including piped Xmas songs in some stores and repetitive Tv commercials I could well do without though.?

It’s common here for many people to put their trees up here (US) right after our Thanksgiving (next week). This sounds a little early, but I say let people do what makes them happy. Decorating is a lot of work to only enjoy it for a week or two. It isn’t exactly July ??‍♀️

I'm in two minds about this.

Should it - or does it - matter if people start their Christmas early? November is sometimes a dismal and grey month and the twinkling lights on a dark and dank evening are quite cheering.

On the other hand, my own feeling is that Christmas has become rather fetishised and has lost some of its 'magic' and - for want of a better word - 'specialness' through excessive consumerism. Some of the stuff on offer is, it has to be said, just cheap, plastic 'tat'... badly designed and manufactured 'Santas', blow-up reindeer figurines, nylon Santa hats that start to fall apart within a couple of hours of wear, etc, etc. Supermarket staff walking around adorned with festive bits of apparel attached to their uniforms, badly recorded Christmas songs scratchily echoing through the loudspeakers, whilst they cram more and more 'stuff' on to the shelves. It feels more like a big commercial jamboree where we are encouraged to spend and spend to make Christmas 'happen'. We spend inordinate amounts of money on 'main' presents, stocking fillers, 'extra' presents, and now, apparently, 'Christmas Eve' presents.

I just feel - and this is entirely personal and subjective - that the simple act of giving and receiving gifts and enjoying quality time with family and friends, has been submerged by the frenetic and extended build up to those two special days - Christmas and Boxing Day.

But maybe I'm completely wrong - the way we live and work has changed, and maybe this is all just simply a part of that change.

I'm an atheist so Christmas has no religious meaning for me - though I do always watch Midnight Mass on BBC TV... it's an oasis of calm.

Zoejory it sounds like you had a fun afternoon with your niece.
Wishing you all a peaceful Christmas x

We’re going to put decorations up this weekend, but the tree won’t go up until 1st December. I send fewer cards than I did, but I’d better start making my list for this year.

Pittcity

I'm with you Sago, a paid up member of the "Keep Christmas in December" club.
I'd prefer it to be every 4 years like the Olympics really!!

Oh that would be brilliant - although still too often for me!

Thank you so much, Dickens

I saw my first Christmas tree the day after Halloween. I was driving to work and couldn’t believe it since then I have seen several in lit up mode. Far too early.

Zoejory

We have a tree up in our hall. My daughter came home to decorate it for us.

Bit early? Maybe.

However, our terminally ill niece was coming to visit over the weekend. She hasn't been out of hospital for 3 months and her expression when she saw the tree was just wonderful. We had a lovely afternoon and even pulled a few crackers.

So maybe some of us have trees up for slightly different reasons.

Our main trees will go up on the 1st December.

It harms no-one . I don't understand why people get so judgemental about it.

I hope your terminally ill niece enjoys this Christmas and that there is hope she might enjoy yet another...

Scrooge said "Keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine."

He was right, wasn't he?

Ours also to up usually a week before the big day if it mid week it may be 10 days. I can see one of our neighbours has hers up , her children are adults and no grandchildren. I have bought a few gifts and am trying to do my bit for the environment this year and have kept some brown packing paper (they put it in the Amazon packages) and some string to pack things up with. But I don't really but many anyway.

I can't imagine anyone would object to a house being decorated early so that a terminally ill person can enjoy a last Christmas with their family.

But a general trend towards starting Christmas earlier and earlier is different. There are many people for whom Christmas is a sad and difficult time, and many who are heartbroken at the thought of a first Christmas without a loved one. Do they really need to have people pushing Christmas in their face, weeks and weeks before the day?
Bar exceptional circumstances I wish people could just wait until December to start putting up the decorations etc. It's bad enough having shops shoving Christmas at you from September on.

Calendargirl

^Cards are already written, will be posted on 31st November^

Really?

?
I haven’t even bought them yet.Or any presents.Or wrapping paper.?(starts to panic.)