To wonder why does Christmas start so early in the UK and are you happy with that

[TheFateofOphelia]

I was in John Lewis yesterday and a huge part of the ground floor was taken up with Christmas trees and decorations. My heart sank because, much as I enjoy the festive season, I want it to start mid Nov not end of August as it does in supermarkets.

Anyday now they'll be blasting out "Do they know it's Christmas." The what shall we do with Uncle Stanley on Christmas Day threads are popping up on MN. Do you like it starting in Autumn or will you join my pointless 'Let's keep Christmas in December' campaign?

Sorry to be the annoying pedant (obviously not that sorry or I wouldn't be posting) but Easter is more important as a holy festival for christians.

Christmas is celebrating Jesus's birth, which is nice, but everyone gets born. It's the whole dying for our sins and coming back from the dead thing that makes him special.

Obviously Christmas is much bigger as a secular festival than Easter, because presents, food, decorations etc, and because we all need something to look forward to in the middle of winter.

At this time of year it’s generally quite easy to avoid the Christmas stuff in supermarkets as there is not that much out, so easy not to go down the relevant aisles. I do that with various things including certain food aisles and Halloween.

JL and garden centre Christmas departments are been open from the beginning of October for a good 4 decade. If I don’t want to see them, I don’t go. But they are generally very quiet during the week in October. I don’t like them playing Christmas music until December though.

I am an early starter with getting what I need for Christmas. Imo there is nothing worse than trying to get what I want come December when everywhere is very busy and I have better things to do.

Personally I prefer to keep December free from shopping trips and do more interesting or relaxing things.

So whilst preparation may start early, I don’t start anything else such as playing festive music, decorating, watching Christmas films etc until December.

I think you need to distinguish between people who sell Christmas merchandise and Christmas itself.

No problem - happy to be corrected 😊

It doesn’t bother me , I’ve started my shopping and love Christmas but I don’t get fully in until November .

I think it’s because once the nights start drawing in, life in the UK can become quite grim. It’s dank, dark, wet and miserable, so we enjoy the anticipation of Christmas lights, films and music to cheer us up.
In Scandinavia they have snow so can go skiing to cure their blues. Similar in France.

Saying “Christmas starts in Autumn” just by what is in the shops is on you not the shop.

You don’t think your summer holiday starts in April when more swimsuits are on the racks.

It’s just things in shops.

It would be much worse if it was squeezed into 3 weeks in December and everything everyone was needed had to be purchased then, can you imagine the complaining about that, oh it was so busy I couldn’t browse or admire the displays at all.

Shops wouldn’t be there if they were expected to be empty and quiet with full displays just so Susan could have a nice browse and buy a small tin of Turkish delight some quiet Thursday in mid-December.

You can’t win with some people.

I don't have strong feelings one day or the other tbh. I just tend to ignore it until at least mid-November. The tree and decorations go up the last Sunday in November, purely because I love the lights from the tree in the evenings!

That being said, I did order both my kids stocking stuffers yesterday! Everything off Temu. Nothing expensive, just little bits and bobs I thought they'd like.

Why can't Christmas haters just do that?

We love Christmas - but not in early autumn!

Hate it.

I am not a fan of Christmas in general but I am in the camp that Christmas is from the second week in December-ish until the end of the 26th December. I am definitely not celebrating Christmas on 4th or 5th January and nobody I know is doing that either.

Traditions do shift and the whole "Christmas" thing has shifted forward with the event ending on 25th rather than starting. I'm OK with that but nobody needs to be buying selection boxes and Christmas cards in August. Christmas has turned into a third of the year tat-fest where it's all about buying the biggest load of shite which the retailers push on you.

Anyway, it's not Christmas on here until some numpty has posted a thread about how awfully common it is that children are talking about Santa when everyone knows that nice middle-class children all say Father Christmas.

That being said, I did order both my kids stocking stuffers yesterday! Everything off Temu. Nothing expensive, just little bits and bobs I thought they'd like.

Like I said, tat-fest.

It's quite hard when faced with aisles filled with mince pies and stollen ☹️

Maybe because everyone is too busy and has too much to do, employers expect so much and we never have enough time . Christmas stuff being in the shops early facilitates planning and spreads the cost.

Same.

Whilst I don't want to hear Christmas songs in August, I do like the time to plan ahead then enjoy December.

Our supermarket only put their first Christmas bits out today. October isn't horrendous to me. In the next couple of weeks I'll go for a wander around our local garden centre which is renowned for its displays and choose a new Dec of some kind.

I'll have pressies done by end of Nov, which means I can spend Dec enjoying the nativity, going on light trails, doing nice things with the DC and watching festive telly. We've got too many DC and relatives and work things to start Christmas in December without it being stressful.

I’m a big Christmas head, so I have no issue with seeing Christmas decs instore early.
I like looking at all the bits and bobs and usually pick up a few tree decs along the way.

For pity's sake and for the umpteenth time:
The appearance of Christmas paraphernalia in shops is to give customers the option of staggering their Christmas shopping. If it wasn't selling, it wouldn't be given floor space.
Your Christmas doesn't have to start early. Your Christmas can start when you like. The problem isn't that it's being forced on you; the problem is you noticing Christmas merchandise in shops and deciding it annoys you.
You don't have to engage. You can just ignore it and start your Christmas shopping when you're ready, without campaigning to deny others the option of starting early.

I save a bit each month from January into an online pot. Then I can ignore Christmas until December. I refuse to go overboard much to my children’s disgust. No extended family anyway.

It’s annoying though and means I am fed up with Christmas by Christmas!

I don’t mind it - it spreads the cost. I’ve got children with Oct and Dec birthdays so I start early! I tend to throw crisps, stollen, sweets and a bottle of fizz in the weekly shop from here on in

I love Christmas but for me it being in the shops so early spoils the 'specialness' of it.. I'd like to just enjoy Autumn and at least, bonfire night before it all starts.

The worst thing I think is, despite everyone saying ignore it, is that often, if you wait until actual December a lot of Christmas stuff is sold out and shops don't restock. They're making room for Easter stuff! I feel like it creates a pressure to be onto the next thing rather than enjoy the moment. I suppose that is what retail needs to do.

I started a thread a few years ago, when we'd had to isolate due to Covid and I promised DD we could get a some Halloween bits for a little family party. By the time we could leave the house in mid October there was literally nothing left in the shops.

If you complain there's nothing left then people say you shouldn't have left it until the last minute

I hate the way Christians starts so early. There has been Christmas talk on here since late august, and that’s when Christmas junk emails started too. As a PP pointed out, it overshadows autumn.

I can usually use mind over matter (aka blanking it out) until Christmas music starts being played. Then it really makes everything awful and unavoidable.

Its all retail driven. I was told that Oxford st and Harrods do their Christmas grottos in August, to attract foreign tourists visiting during the summer holidays!

Having Christmas things in the shops early helps people budget. My Mum would start buying non-perishables from the supermarket from September to spread the cost. Same with Christmas gifts.

Plus it’s an about retail space for seasonal products. Would you like them to leave the shelves empty and the floor space blank?

The thing that annoys me is that most presents you can buy any time of year, the stuff that’s out in shops now is generic tat. We use the same decs year on year because we can’t afford to replace or refresh. But there must be enough people completely changing their Christmas decorations every year for it to be worth shops doing it now.

It’s all just consumerist greed.

I would disagree that Christmas is Christians main “holy day.” It’s at least joint with Easter if not behind.

But it’s been like this for practically decades…why are you concerned or bothered now.

I do absolutely nothing for Christmas until December. I don’t get the argument of spreading the cost - just put money aside for Christmas over a few months if you need to spread the cost.