To think Christmas was better before it started mid October and there were beauty advent calenders etc?

[malificent7]

I love Christmas but it is becoming increasingly out of hand. Popped into Hungry Horse pub in September and they had a frickin Christmas tree up to advertise their December menu.
Why are there now £100 gin advent calenders and as much as i love decorations do we really need piles of tat everywhere?. I think it is more magic if it starts later and there is less pressure to spend squillions.
Aibu to think it has gone a bit crackers?

( pardon the pun.)

I agree that the 12 days of Christmas starts on the 25th, so not really relevant to modern day life.

If you look up the Liturgical year, then your first Winter fast in preparation for Christmas Day should be on the 15th November. But the start of the countdown starts at the end of October. The Liturgical year swaps between the old and new calendar dates.

So from a religious aspect (depending on your religion of course) it's quite right to start in November. From a old style baking/food gathering perspective that started from Harvest Festival.

I've always shopped for my DD's, October born 1985 Birthday whilst Christmas stuff has been in the shops. The New Disney Film had already been advertised, or what old one was being released on Video and the merchandise was in the shops, in October.

We don't/I didn't do Adult presents, or stockings, but I always did Christmas Eve gift bags, presents don't always equal tat.

I theme rooms, but everything is put away. I had my loft boarded, wherever I lived, so I had storage. Or I donate it.

I do two Christmas markets and a Christmas day out each year, this year it's going to be a stately house, without buying anything except something really wanted for me. I couldn't do that if it didn't start until November.

Early start doesn't necessarily equal consumerism.

It's naff as fuck. I hate it and I judge anyone who puts their tree up early and takes it down before 12th night. Missing the whole point. Christmas is from Christmas not the fucking month before.

Yes it runs it when it all comes out too early. The only way to stop this is to stop buying the stuff till nearer the time. Then the shops lose out on revenue and might have a rethink.

bloody food shops are giving up so much space to stupid xmas food already. DD is coeliac, they have reduced normal range for stupid xmas cakes etc. We don’t want these!!

@Ihatesundays

I remember visiting a popular clothing store looking for their petite range before Christmas - but it was gone. I asked about it and apparently it was taken off the shelves to make room for Christmas stuff.

I stood there wondering how I was going to make myself taller until January.

YANBU

Seems Christmas is all about materialistic stuff these days and seems to get worse every year.

I wonder how it must feel for those who are struggling financially, it must already be sad not being able to afford the Christmas dinner you would like, but constantly being rubbed in your face ‘thou shalt buy LOTS of stuff or it’s not a proper Christmas’ can make people feel even more shit about the holidays, esspecially if they have DC who also constantly get that message.

Yanbu.

I work retail but thankfully my manager and I have the same sentiment when it comes to Christmas both of us thinking how ridiculous it has gotten the earlier it gets and we have yet to have any Christmas music thankfully and no one has complained and I’d have to hold back an eyeroll if they did.

I also eyeroll how much people like to use the US as an excuse for this. Christmas season didn’t start til the end of November right after Thanksgiving, not the end of September as I’ve seen here.

People complain about Halloween being a few days or even a week yet Christmas for over 2 months is ok 🙄.

I'm 58 and we had advent calendars with chocolate in them when I was a child, they are not new. There were lots of Christmas adverts from the late 60s onwards. I clearly remember Kenny Everett doing a woolies one amongst others.

Christmas is what you want it to be. There are plenty of people who need to spread their shopping costs, lots who like to have everything ready early. I shop in December these days but shopped from August onwards when the children were small and we had less disposable income per month.

Now I ignore and don't give it a passing thought really until December.

I like to buy all my presents from mid November and be finished by the 1st of December because I don't like last minute panic buying. Anything else Christmassy can wait until December. An acquaintance put their tree up last weekend which I find bizarre.

Doesn't bother me but I love Christmas and see the excitement as much as a celebration of late autumn/early winter as anything else. Would rather it starting a bit early than have to pay so much attention to the tacky, dumb hot mess that is Halloween

I love Christmas but loathe the Gin/beauty advent calendars. Way too expensive for what you get. If I want to try different gins ill go to Wetherspoons in town and to through the shelf or pop to a corner shop i know that sell a shitload of miniature gin bottles for £3.50 each. The choice is immense!

But I always put up my tree on the last Sunday in November. Mum always did and i like to as well.

Would rather it starting a bit early than have to pay so much attention to the tacky, dumb hot mess that is Halloween

Try not to sound so ignorant about other culture’s ancient celebrations, there’s a dear

Oh and we all get a silly advent calendar, Peppa Pig for DH, etc.

Agree with this! Absolutely ridiculous amounts of effort have to go into Christmas now. When I was a kid out tree went up 1st December, our advent calendar was £1 and even tho we had shit loads of presents we also enjoyed family time and appreciated all the effort our parents had put in. These days it's bratty kids mine included screaming they want every toy in the shop, there friend has her/his tree up so we must put up ours straight away or it's the end of the world. It makes me resent Christmas, such endless pressure to make sure everybody has presents so nobody starts moaning (the in laws mainly)

When my children are older I'll go on holiday at Christmas

Would rather it starting a bit early than have to pay so much attention to the tacky, dumb hot mess that is Halloween

Same goes for Christmas except it lasts for weeks instead of a few days and let’s not forget the amount of stuff that ends in the bins at the end.

While it used to really annoy me other then luxury advent calander until last year. I saw an interesting response to why stores and advertisers di start so early. Though 2 months might seem like a long time to drag it out it etc it is only two or one payday away depending on when you get paid (or 6-8 paydays if you get paid on a weekly basis etc) that is not a lot of time to think about what to get family for christmas etc.

@TabbyMumz but if you're still spending the same amount just later, the stores' revenues won't be hit surely?

Lots of people need to start shopping well in advance, even if they're not having a massive celebration. If you're older/disabled/don't have a car, even a few gifts and festive food needs a good few trips to get in. Ditto if you're trying to spread the cost.

Early start doesn't necessarily equal consumerism

This.

I think of Xmas starting after bonfire night. But no decorations etc till Dec 1st.

I think my daughter was 4 when she told me she was bored of Christmas now before they'd even broken up from school for the Christmas Holidays! Its a looooong time to wait when you're only small and there are Christmas trees up and Christmas events happening from right after Halloween.

I have a cousin who is absolutely nuts about Christmas, every year she must take her child to literally every single Santa's Grotto/Polar Express ride/Xmas skating/Christmas Fayre etc in the county. Its just a neverending stream of photos on FB of her child with different santas, elf on the shelf, christmas parties, outfits - she does the whole lot and I can't help but feel that it all becomes rather meaningless after a point. It must cost an absolute fortune as well, fine if you can afford it but this cousin was at one point sat in her house for weeks on end with no boiler because she couldn't afford to get it fixed.

My kids have short attention spans, I try to keep the Christmas build-up to a minimum and we only visit one Santa's Grotto at the school Christmas Fayre, no Christmas Eve Boxes or new jimjams etc. We do have an elf but he doesn't do anything, my daughter didn't want him to return to the North Pole a couple of years ago so he just lives here now! I'll also be keeping the gifts to a minimum too this year, when they get too much they just don't appreciate it.

I haven't even started Christmas shopping. It's been a Rocky year health wise and I just can't be bothered.

Living in Germany in the late 70s was the first time I saw chocolate Advent calendars, we used to send them to family children in the UK who thought that they were wonderful.
As for the other stuff mentioned, they only sell them because people buy them, leave the shops with a ton of unsold stock and they would soon stop.