Christmas decorating confession here…I’m an early Christmas Decorator. I mean like really, really, early. I’m one of THOSE people, the ones you probably roll your eyes at. The funny thing is every year I tell myself I’ll get better, that I’ll wait longer until the house goes into full Christmas mode. But as I sit here typing this, I think I’ve realized it’s impossible for me to ever wait because I’m a Christmas junkie…an addict really.
Poor little Thanksgiving, it gets shoved into Christmas a little bit but as we like to joke, we’re thankful for Christmas. I do decorate for fall, usually in September, but honestly as soon as Halloween is over I just want all the pumpkins to go away and Christmas to come out. It’s the first week of November now, the house is about half decorated, and the garage and guest room are full of Christmas stuff. It feels like a dirty little secret sometimes. I make sure as soon as it’s slightly dark outside to close the blinds so neighbors can’t see inside to the few trees and sparkly lights I have up. When the UPS man has me sign for a package I just crack the door a little so he can’t see inside. Yep…this is definitely junkie behavior, they hide everything.
It seems like there are 2 types of people, those who decorate before Thanksgiving and those who wait until Thanksgiving weekend..or even well into December. I think the early decorators get a bit defensive (and sometimes hello..embarrassed) about it and the ones who prefer to wait get annoyed by the early birds like me.
But on the other hand is it such a big deal? My husband and kids chuckle a little but they certainly don’t object when our house looks like the north pole 2 weeks before Thanksgiving. The heart wants what it wants, but the truth is I have many reasons why I love decorating so early.
THE BUBBLE EFFECT
The world is getting scarier and more violent by the day and sometimes all the negativity in the world will consume me. But in the Christmas bubble the world seems better, people seem happier, and life just seems better. I love the Christmas bubble, and what’s wrong with having it last a few more weeks?
I’M A SLOW DECORATOR
Ok, this is a big one. I can’t be rushed when I decorate, period, or I end up stressed out and in tears. Every year I switch up our Christmas decor a bit. I have a few dependable things that stay in the same place every Christmas, but I get bored easily with my decor and that includes holiday stuff. I simply like to relax, play around with things, and take my sweet time.
I HAVE A LOT OF STUFF
Another big reason is the sheer volume of stuff I have to put up. I have boxes and boxes of stuff to put up, then there’s packing the regular home items away. It’s a tremendous amount of work and why go to all that trouble just to take it down 4 weeks later? If I do the work I want to enjoy it longer.
THERE’S ALWAYS A PROBLEM
Decorating for Christmas is never drama free for me, it’s never like it is in the movies. It seems there is always some kind of problem. None of the lights work, or something is lost or broken. Another advantage of being an early decorator is I have time to work this issues out in a relaxed environment, and because its early I get first pick of everything sold in stores.
I DREAD IT
I love being in our decorated home, but I always dread the actual decorating part. I think a lot of us do, it’s a hassle. It creates a lot of work, makes a mess, and my back always gets sore. So yeah, I kind of hate doing it, but once it’s done I’m ecstatic.
So, should I really be embarrassed? I’m thinking no, not anymore. Here I am world…I’m an early decorating Christmas junkie and I’m proud of it! So, what type of Christmas decorator are you?
