Five Fun Facts About Christmas Creep

Holiday decor lines the shelves in early October

 Christmas “Creep” – the term used to describe the perpetual “moving up” of the holiday shopping season (and the squeezing out of Halloween and Thanksgiving) - is met with disdain.  Apparently people abhor Christmas Creep. One study found over 70% of Americans “annoyed or very annoyed” by this perceived phenomenon. But peruse these five fun facts about Christmas Creep, and perhaps you’ll reconsider your thoughts on the subject. 

The Peanuts gang experiences so-called Christmas Creep back in 1974.

Christmas Creep is a Myth

 As a self-described Christmas fanatic, I assure you Christmas Creep is a myth. Some of my earliest memories involve looking for signs of Christmas, and holiday merchandise displayed alongside back-to-school supplies was not unusual. In fact, a full FORTY years ago (1974) Charles Shultz was poking fun at the idea of early Christmas sales in this scene from “It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown.” Holiday sales start early, but not necessarily any earlier than they have for decades.

Halloween still ranks high at my house!

The Christmas Creep Backlash is, well…Discriminatory

I know it’s all the rage to denounce Christmas Creep – to even boycott stores - but why pick on Christmas? This so-called “mashing” of holidays (when the merchandising of one holiday or season runs into another) happens all year. BBQ grills and patio furniture appear alongside Valentine candy. Fall sweaters and warm boots make their appearance right around the 4^th of July!  

Thanksgiving fans can also be Christmas fans.

Christmas Creep is not an assault on Halloween and Thanksgiving

Halloween and Thanksgiving are alive and well! Costume parties, pumpkin patch excursions, and trick-or-treating fill the month of October. Stopping for a long lazy weekend of turkey, stuffing and football is still an American tradition. We are each free to choose when and how we engage in the holiday season, but beginning one’s Christmas preparations early and fully embracing the Thanksgiving holiday are, thankfully, not mutually exclusive.

Early planning makes for a smooth holiday season.

Christmas Creep is a Good Thing

Shortly after the “Christmas already?” chatter comes gasps of “Christmas really snuck up on me!” Consider the first few glimpses of Santa a reminder to get out your planner. The countless details of shopping, decorating, baking and travel can suck the “magic” right out of the holiday season. Use these early days to plan your most important traditions.

Even a hard-core Christmas fanatic like me has to ask: “What’s with the Santa Pig?”

Christmas Creep has a Fan Club

 Scrooge-ish comments aside, Christmas Creep has a huge fan club. These are folks who live one joyful holiday season to the next…people who secretly listen to Jingle Bells in August...people who buy a house because of its “tree-worthy” foyer. Some of these people celebrate the “true meaning of Christmas.”  
I happen to be one of these Christmas Creep fans. 
I make no apologies. 
I love Christmas.

Here we go, friends. Saturday morning, while kids sleep off their trick-or-treat sugar high and parents scrape pumpkin guts off their porches, the holiday season will be upon us. Jump in, hold back, or go with the flow – whatever your style – here’s wishing you a happy holiday season.

So…how do you feel about Christmas Creep? 

Oh, Spiders...I hate thee...

OK, full disclosure: this has nothing to do with ADHD, Professional Organizing, running the PTO, or any of my other many interests. It's simply about spiders; and I hate them. And since it's Halloween, I feel like venting. They're everywhere. And they're huge. And they have way too many legs.

On the other hand, I like to watch Arachnophobia in the dark, and photograph their webs coated with Autumn dew, and study their mating rituals on Animal Planet. Many years ago, like twenty or so, my family developed an affinity for scaring the living sh-- out of each other. And a well-placed rubber spider always delivered. It started when I was living at home with my folks in a great, big, early 1900's house. There were creaky stairs and creepy rooms, and every corner was an open invitation for a good scare. We'd hide behind doors and place props in the dumb waiter and take full advantage of the dank, dark basement. We screamed like schoolgirls and planned our revenge.

Then came my marriage, and the sickness lived on. Plastic lizards in a shoe was good for a jump, but once he put an army-clad mannequin head on top of the dryer. It scared the crap out of me when I opened the closet door, and then POW! He got me. Another one IN the dryer!

We swore off scaring for years when we had unsecured guns in the house. Then we had kids, locked up the weapons, and the scare tactics resurfaced.

Now, our two kids are in on the act. And no one is safe. There are certain assumptions you make in your own home. Like there are no tarantulas in your sheets, snakes in your cereal, or ghosts in the closet. Not in my house. And it has nothing to do with Halloween. We've gone absolutely crazy with scaring each other. We take every possible opportunity to lurk in the dark, catch someone unawares, or grab an ankle from beneath a bed.

We scream, we swear, we lash out physically. The louder the scream, the harder we laugh. We love it. We hate it. We're all into it.

Happy Halloween everyone. And beware, there are scares around every corner!