There are two types of people in the world: Holiday Liberalists and The Holiday Police.

The Liberalest of the Holiday Liberalists consist of the people who choose to start playing Christmas music in stores, put the decorations out in malls, and start selling Christmas Candy, all on the day after Halloween.

(Oh, and of course Hallmark that starts selling ornaments on July 1st.  The Hallmarks are the undisputed Liberalist Royal Family.)

The Holiday Police are those who believe that never ever should you even mention the C word until after Thanksgiving – nay, maybe not even until December 1st.

And, thus, the two factions immediately begin their war each year at the end of October, spouting off indignant statements in each other’s general direction.

From the Police regarding the Liberalists…

“I can’t believe that there are Christmas decorations up ALREADY!!!  What about Thanksgiving?!!?!?

(as if there aren’t Christmas decorations up at this point every year.)

From the Liberals to the Police…

“Oh, don’t be such a Grinch!  Thanksgiving IS part of the Christmas season!!!”

(Horrified Gasps ensue from The Police.)

I was raised in a Holiday Police Household.  We spent the month of November putting red and brown and orange feathers in our quilted Turkey each day, signifying what we were thankful for.  We didn’t dare start our Christmas lists or ask for Christmas music until after the Cornucopious Holiday of Thanksgiving was over, along with it’s trailing long weekend.

(I think my Mom might have even hidden the Sears Dream Book until the appropriate time for us to have thoughts of such things.)

But I married a definite Holiday Liberalist.  Always excited about Christmas in the most Griswold of fashions, my husband loves to “get just a little head start on the Christmas decorations” … “You know, because we’ll be so busy Thanksgiving weekend and all.  And wouldn’t the house look pretty to be lit up ON Thanksgiving night??”

And I have to admit, as much as it’s going to break my Holiday Police Mom’s heart, after almost ten years of marriage, he’s completely won me over.

(Although I do have a fair amount of guilt over the fact that I have done no fallish-colored Turkey Feathers of Thankfulness with Ali.)

The logic that tipped the scales this year was when he reminded me that “we’re going to miss a whole week of Christmas while we’re in the hospital having Noah – we need to get started celebrating as early as possible if we’re going to have a proper Christmas!”

And so, for the first time ever, I started playing Christmas music…on my own…Last Week.

(Shameful, I know.  I can feel my Mother’s saddened, distressed, and tear-filled eyes upon me as I type.)

And, since I knew the flammably controversial issue that this sort of musical behavior was, I mentioned it on Facebook (citing my least favorite Christmas songs and asking what everyone else’s were), just for the pure entertainment of watching the arguments pour in, as people right and left identified themselves by their objections or cheers as Holiday Police or Holiday Liberalists.

It was pure Facebook War awesomeness.

But in our family, it is official: the Christmas holidays are in full swing.

And so, if you pass our house, you might see that our Christmas lights are already up.

And, if Chris finds the time, you might even see our Christmas tree in the window very soon.

And, because he wants to make sure to raise another little Liberalist just like him, you might even see a very happy little girl, staring wondrously and gleefully at her already decorated-for-the-holidays dollhouse:

DollhouseVertical

…And I have a feeling I may have just won myself the inheritance of that Quilted Turkey from my childhood…after all, The Christmas Police don’t let people leave their party easily, especially when the fate of their Grandchildren’s holiday loyalty is at stake.

22 thoughts on “C (hristmas) before E (aster) but NEVER before T (hanksgiving).

  1. Great post! I guess I have been more of a Holiday police, but this year, our tree is already up! For the first time EVER, it’s up before Thanksgiving. BUT, even though it’s up, it’s still not decorated. That might not get done until Christmas Eve! HaHa

  2. We always have ours done early but this year, it was waaay early. I started the Christmas music BEFORE Halloween! I was really needing the comfort of it! But the tree? That goes up tomorrow (Monday) night because we won’t be back from family early enough to do it next weekend. I love that y’all decorate Ali’s tree. How cute!

  3. What category would I be in? Technically, I am always late for the party but then I like to keep it going. Hence, pumpkins all over my yard and probably will be until a few days after Thanksgiving. Christmas decor goes up shortly thereafter but doesn’t come day a day before Jan. 6 or The Epiphany unless and this is the big “unless”, I decide to keep the whole “love” came down from Heaven theme and take it right on into Valentine’s Day. Oh, and then sometimes I keep the Xmas lights up inside because we love Mardi Gras.
    I call that “keeping the party going”.
    My husband calls that “clutter” and “procrastination.”

  4. I am definitley the Christmas Police. I Hate it when people overlook Thanksgiving!!! Idk why…I just do.

    The weekend after Thanksgiving, we put up our Christmas bling, listen to Christmas music, and watch the 1934 version of Miracle on 34th Street.
    (of course, I just totally broke my rule of mentioning Christmas, in this comment. I actually, try to keep my distance from the liberalists until after thanksgiving. I know, it’s bad.)

  5. Oh my goodness, that dollhouse is adorable with the lights! Last year I put them up on the swing set in the backyard, which was just precious (and stayed lighted until May as a result of my laziness….). My husband has declared that NO Christmas lights will be up until after Christmas while he is home, however, so I have declared that he gets to be the one standing out in the cold and snow putting them up, since he said no when I wanted to put them up back when it was halfway decent weather a few weekends ago.

  6. Police here. No decor until day after Thanksgiving – firm. However I have not been very good at being in the world and not of it, as I too, have voluntarily let a few Christmas tunes slip. Shameful, I know.

  7. I love, love, LOVE that he decorated her doll house. If my girls had a dollhouse, they would totally be decking the halls about now. My girls and I have secretly been rocking around the Christmas tree for a few weeks now – secretly, because I’m surrounded by cranky people who wonder why lights are up before the pumpkins are smashed. I can’t help it if I love twinkly lights and the smell of pine! I’ve even started the unconscious whistling of holiday tunes when I’m out shopping…

  8. Welcome to our side!!!!!! I am a huge LIB! I love to enjoy my non-commercialized holiday “Thanksgiving” so I try to get all the hoopla of Christmas (decorating and such) done before Turkey day. That way I can enjoy that-Shop on Black Friday-Wrap up the gifts then spend December celebrating the true meaning of Christmas!

  9. I am DEFINITELY a holiday liberalist! Last year I had our tree up & home fully decorated one Nov. 1st! (GASP)…but this year we’ve waited “SO LATE” & we are decorating tonight actually…so, I gotta run!

    P.S.
    Ali’s doll house is so cute!

  10. I guess I am on the police side. I never really thought about it before. We always put our tree up on Thanksgiving weekend. It’s also a nice excuse for not having to stay all the way through Sunday since we alternate spending the holidays at our families’ houses. :) We love our families dearly but 4-5 days with them is a little much. 2-3 days is the perfect amount. Haha:)

  11. I love Chris’ enthusiasm and wish he were here to decorate some for me. I know we are never home the day of, but I like them from now to Jan. 1. I think the best thing is Ali’s dollhouse. It looks great and can be just for her. I always said Thanksgiving weekend was time to decorate but football has messed that up for years.

  12. I’ve always waited until the day after Thanksgiving, but my kids are slowly wearing me down! This year we almost pulled the tree out today, but we ended up playing outside all day. If I were an SAHM, though, I would have lost the battle looooooooong ago!

  13. Police here! But, I did load my Christmas playlist back onto my phone last week…even though I’m not listening to it yet. Maybe there is hope for me? ;)

  14. I too soooo love that he decorated Ali’s dollhouse. She will probably never forget that. Such a sweet thing.

    And I am more of the Police sort. I can only think about one big event at a time so I want each holiday to have its own stuff, a little break, and then move on to the next.

    And least favorite Christmas song? Felix Navidad, no doubt. It literally makes me cringe and makes my ears hurt.

  15. Oh my, you’ve gone over to the “dark side” or should I say “light side”. ;) Love the lights on the doll house. Mom

  16. We put up the dogs’ trees on Thanksgiving…So I guess it’s kind of both…I do hate how Kroger has Christmas stuff on display on top of the freezer cases in July, though…

  17. I was brought up as Police, but I’ve softened throughout the years. Especially when we started spending Thanksgiving in the Smokey Mtns. It’s so nice to come home and all the decorations already be up.

  18. I am of the Holiday Police camp. Although I don’t care much for Thanksgiving, it is my marker for celebrating Christmas. Some years I will bring out my Christmas Binder a couple of weeks into November and will buy decorations, but I won’t let anyone in my family play Christmas music until the Friday after Thanksgiving.

  19. Oh poo! I guess I missed that post. It would have been fun to watch. In my family we have what we sometimes (probably inappropriately so) call the “Christmas Nazis”. Those are the 2 members of our family (they married in, wink wink) that are OBSESSED with Christmas and gifts…They have already (amongst themselves) come up with how we are “doing” Christmas this year and have assigned jobs to everyone. Now I’m no “police” but I was really confused when they started making Christmas plans before Thanksgiving this year. People! I need to know what to bring to Thanksgiving dinner! NOT what you want for Christmas! I have no problem with discussing Christmas AFTER someone tells me when and where to be for T-day.
    All that to say, I love Thanksgiving and I loooove Christmas. I listen to Christmas music all year round. I told my husband once, when he gave me the raised eyebrow over my music choice in July, “I was born 2 days after Christmas, so I’m allowed. Get over it.”

  20. Do you guys all have fake trees? Or do you have magic long lasting trees or something?

    We tend to get a small cut pine tree around the 1st or 2nd week of December and it gets a bit wilted after 3 -4 weeks in a bucket of water. ‘Cos it’s summer, our trees have got their new growth on, and the weather’s pretty hot which might not help longevity.

    We don’t do Thanksgiving, but the Christmas decorations in malls etc. tend to go up after Halloween.

  21. I am most definitely a Holiday Liberalist, we’ve been listening to Christmas music for 2 weeks now and we just put our tree up today! Can’t wait to get the rest of the house decorated tomorrow!
    Love Ali’s dollhouse, those LED lights are so cool!

  22. I’m glad you’ve brought this up. A lot of people get crazy over this stuff.

    I usually just do the holiday that’s in front of me a week or two before and then take it down the weekend after. It really bites me in the tush when it comes to shopping because I’m not organized enough mentally to take a holiday in it’s stride AND shop the deals/steals for the next one. So I sometimes miss out on either getting what I need (because it’s sold out) or getting it at a good price (because now it’s in high demand). Bummer but I don’t want to rush myself.

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