Doesn't Christmas still come AFTER Thanksgiving on our calendar?

I love Christmas.  Let me repeat that - I LOVE CHRISTMAS.  I would like to get that out of the way first.  It is far and away my favorite holiday.  As a Christian myself, the significance is exceptionally important to me, though frankly not as important as Easter. 

 I love Christmas songs, presents, and food.  I love the looks on my kids' faces on that special morning.  I love teaching my kids about it and what it really means.  There are certain movies I always try to watch leading up to December 25th (namely, "It's a Wonderful Life", "A Christmas Story", and "Scrooged").  I also usually watch the Grinch stealing Christmas (old version) and Charlie Brown's Christmas show (classic).  Even the piano music from the latter, performed by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, is able to evoke strong holiday memories for me.  This is going to be the year that I buy that CD finally.  It's just really good.

Now that we have set that straight, WHY OH WHY does "Christmastime" have to start earlier every year?  It is still celebrated on the same day.  I was telling a friend of mine earlier that I saw the first Christmas commercial on TV the night that I was getting my kids ready to go trick-or-treating.  You heard me.  I saw a department store ad for a Christmas special on HALLOWEEN night. 

Are retailers only going to be happy when it's called "HALLOTHANKSMAS"? 

Today, as I was leaving my house, I turned on my car radio and there is a local station that has already started its annual 24-7 broadcast of Christmas carols.  Are you kidding me?  Don't we have another holiday to celebrate first?  This is rampant and blatant commercializing of this terrific and special time of year.  Do we really need to be reminded of when it occurs?  Christmas is 38 days away.  Can't we wait until after Thanksgiving to start this stuff?  I suppose if I am being honest I could listen to this music anytime of year and still enjoy it, but since I know the reason is to sell ad time, it irritates me.

I know that the ads seem to have affected at least one of my kids already, as I am right now looking at her Christmas list that she left on the table next to me.  I finally told her to make a list because I was tired of hearing about every single thing that she wants.  She was pushing me to order everything early, ostensibly because she didn't want anything to come late.  Hmm... my wife and I have always managed to get her gifts here on time before.  Maybe she saw an ad somewhere that prompted this, or maybe she is just six and excited because she knows it is next month. 

At any rate, I would like to humbly suggest that we refrain from any overt Christmasalization until the day after Thanksgiving, when everyone and their dog can hit the malls (with boughs of holly) to begin their shopping.  As for the radio thing, I think I would find it acceptable next week or perhaps December 1st, but not right now.  I am going to single-handedly coin this new phrase (Christmasalization), and I hope you will join me.

Thanks for listening. 

By the way, now that my older kids are 8 and 6, it is interesting to note that they KNOW when the decorating occurs.  My wife told me a couple of days ago, "I hope you are ready to get in the attic on Thanksgiving or the day after.  The kids want us to start decorating."  That's fine.  In fact, it warms my heart since I know that their excitement comes from genuine joy about the time of year.  As for the radio and TV ads, I feel a bit differently.

Thanks for reading!