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?

Doesn't everyone who owns a business take advantage of the season that would make them the most money?

I like seeing Christmas stock in shops. It cheers up the dull dreary days of Autumn and Winter.

It's been like this for years. I just ignore it until mid November.
Just wait until all the stores are playing Christmas music, then it's time to engage in Christmas.

"Chill?" Can you not handle a challenge without insulting the challenger?

Its all about the money and this year with the recession shops are desparate so its sell,sell,sell x and john lewis been in poor financial straits for a good few years

If you think being told to "chill!" is an insult, then you are a fragile flower, dear Helena 🌼

I will ignore it until November 1st

I've bought (and eaten) some mince pies and tubs of chocolate.
Other than that, I don't like it!
I also don't like how they pull everything by Boxing Day sometimes and then they bring out the mini eggs?!

I love Christmas but I do agree the stores do bring stock out far too early but for them it’s all about profit at the end of the day; I’d be happy for it to begin in mid-November that’s plenty early enough; I think having it so commercialised also takes some of the magic away for the children by the time Christmas actually arrives they’re bored to death of the songs, the decorations & the hype it’s just too much for them & us & I loathe seeing Christmas trees up in peoples homes in October it’s madness.

To be honest I’m more annoyed by people complaining about it - it’s reasonable that Xmas stuff is available to be bought a few months before, so costs can be spread out and planning can be easier.
You may not want to do anything that early, but many do. The world’s not set up just for your preferences, so ignore it and deal with it.

How much stuff are you buying that it needs months of planning though? I just don't get it.

I don’t, but many people I know do, especially if they’re hosting family or going way or a dozen other ways people do Xmas.
i do have to spread costs though, and it’s easier to do this when the stuff is in the shops for longer
My point is that Xmas is different for different ppl, and a bit of tolerance for that , and not expecting it to be within the parameters that one person finds acceptable, based upon some, mostly not entirely true, ideas of how it used to be is probably a better way of looking at it

Unless your hosting the royal family or something, it never requires 3 months of prep. Takes all the fun out if it's everywhere for months. It's not a special day if it's in our faces for a quarter of the year. If anyone is doing so much shopping that it really needs months of specially themed shelves to prep, then they need to buy less. Overconsumption is the aim and people get sucked right in.

It starts early so that every shilling can be extracted from the compliant public. Just Say No!

Henning Wehn on the long British Christmas season:

m.youtube.com/watch?v=PszmFlyUT0k

It’s been getting progressively earlier every single year and for me actually ruins Christmas season as it’s so diluted. I loved the slow build up from after Halloween and then full blown Christmas retail cheer brightening up December. This year half August I discovered some Santa visits being completely sold out - it’s bonkers.

Not necessarily as the spare £5 you have in a jar is easily accessible, on a day you run out of money, you can't spend a gift.

I don't really mind. It's easy enough to avoid the aisles dedicated to it, or just to pass it by without a close look. There's no pressure to buy -certainly no more than any other product in store. There's nothing forcing people to stop and browse through the Christmas items, you can just walk past 🤷‍♀️
While I don't start my Christmas decorating until December, I do understand the desire to get started and spread the cost. My mum has started to buy and put things away as she caters for a lot of people and has a lot of grandchildren!

I don’t understand those “everything done and dusted” posters who have all presents bought and wrapped already. So clinical. And doesn’t everything look tatty when you get it out in three months’ time?

And if these are carefully chosen presents, I'd be so worried that the recipient has already bought themselves it. Or they have changed their mind, hobby etc.

but if you spend the money on a coat because you need to, then there's one fewer present. If you've already spent the money on a present and then need a new coat, what happens? Debt? If you can't put money aside then you can't - its about making responsible choices and living within means.

I don't think anything Cristmassy should be allowed before 1st December!

again, budget, planning. If there is an emergency that needs you to spend the present jar, then presumably, you'd borrow money to cover the emergency if you'd already spent it. Or its not really an emergency but a "fuck it" moment for a takeaway or whatever. That's where discipline comes in - we're really really bad at it these days.

Perishable items of course need to be bought during December, so presumably all this other spend is for non-perishables?

Most gifts are things you can buy any other time of the year, usually cheaper - my mother used to start Christmas gift shopping at the January Sales (as they were then, Boxing Day sales nowadays).

So the majority of Christmas specific shopping apart from from things that have to be bought in the last couple of weeks must be stuff like decorations, and how many people need to buy loads and loads of decorations new every year? I mourned when the lights I had used for years, and had been family tree lights when I was a child (60's & 70's) finally died about 15 years ago & I finally had to buy new ones. I still have baubles that were my mothers from the 50's, though those don't go out now because I have cats & they are blown glass ones.

Same Christmas stockings every year (father's cricket socks). Same window lights for the last 4 years. Same ornaments on the sides I've had for years.

Maybe if you're the kind of family who "have" to have matching family pyjama sets each year and the children are still growing, or "need" to have a yearly tree theme colour different from any of the previous few years, or feel you'll be judged if you special Christmas table cloth isn't a new one, or "have" to get new Christmas bedding every year.....

For me I keep my eyes open for the gifts I will buy from about September, then maybe check if any decorations need replacing in mid/late November, otherwise it's just food.

I ignore Christmas until after Halloween as we always did quite a bit half term week around it.

After this I start thinking of gifts and usually am pretty organised by December so I can enjoy the build up. We are always busy at work as the preschoolers do a play and have a Christmas party. It’s lovely working with little ones during December!

I hate it. It's just one commercial fest! So tired of it all. My kids are all grown up, but now having to do Christmas dinner for my mum, because she insists she wants a family Christmas. If it wasn't for her I'd just eat out and forget about it all. Yeah I'm the grinch!