I don’t know if you’ve heard, but that Nordstrom place is classy. Elegant. Chic. Tasteful. Refined. Take your pick of synonyms; it is one sophisticated spot, ladies and gents.
Nordstrom’s all over the news right now for their “One Holiday At A Time” campaign. See, they don’t decorate for Christmas until… you’ll never believe it… Christmas time! That’s right, folks. You won’t see Nordstrom hanging up so much as an ornament ’til the day after Thanksgiving, just the way God intended.
Nordstrom’s fighting the good fight.
This whole jumping the gun thing has been a problem for a long, long time, though, y’all.
I’m almost positive there were some eager, consumerist angels who wanted a head start on announcing the Christ-child’s birth. They were all, “Come on, God! You promised we get to freak out some grungy shepherds, and we wanna go now.” And God was all, “Patience, guys. Do you see this egg timer? I’m setting it. When it dings, we go. ‘Til then, you SHUSH.”
That’s pretty much how it happened.
Also, God totally waited to light up the Bethlehem Star ’til the day after Thanksgiving.
Need more convincing on the Right and the Wrong time to start Christmas? Alrighty, then. You asked for it. Just imagine the chaos… imagine the sheer pandemonium… if we tried to give thanks and celebrate the birth of Jesus at the same time. There would be turmoil, people. Anarchy!
Thanksgiving plus Jesus’ birth? That’s crazy talk. And Nordstrom is better than that.
But I’m not.
My life is already Chaos plus Pandemonium. It’s Chandemonium. And we throw in a little Turmoil here and there to spice up the soup. (True, we’re light on the Anarchy, but she nods to me at the grocery store which is nice. I feel like Anarchy and I are at least casual friends.)
So, even though there’s a right way to do things and a wrong way to do things… and even though Right and Wrong are absolute concepts important for maintaining social order… and even though everyone (like God and Nordstrom) knows you can’t put up a Christmas tree until the day after Thanksgiving… and even though it’s SO not cool…
… our tree went up the day after Halloween.
And not just because the fastest way to get me to do something is to tell me I can’t or I shouldn’t. (It’s like an itch that I Just. Must. Scratch.) Nope. That’s not the reason at all.
It’s because of these little guys…
… and because of the other little folks in our house who aren’t as little as they used to be.
It’s because childhood is short. And Christmas should be longer.
And it’s because joy is a choice.
Our tree is in the process of being decorated. We’re filling it this month with all of the things for which we’re thankful. Which is a lovely way to misuse a Christmas tree.
I guess that makes it our Thanksgiving and Christmas tree.
Our Thanksgistmas Tree?
Nah.
It’s our Christgiving Tree.
‘Cause that’s how we roll. One Christgiving Holiday at a time.
16 responses to “On Consumerist Angels and the Right Time for Christmas”
[…] do you decorate for the holidays? Last year, I put up my tree the day after Halloween. What can I say? I’m a weirdo. This year, I’m seriously considering following the […]
3 cheers for Christgiving! I share your sentiment… I believe that Christgiving makes Christmas more rather than making Thanksgiving less. It’s never too early for Christmas…
Thanks!
Do you ever read a comment and go, “YES! That’s exactly what I’m trying to say.” You summed it up so well with “I believe that Christgiving makes Christmas more rather than making Thanksgiving less.” Perfect.
Way to go! Such a great idea!
I am so with you on this…
I have been in the mood to put up my Tree because I always enjoy it so much but have been holding off until after TG Day….I always enjoy my Christmas tree so much so that one year Shannon and I left our tree up until St. Patty’s Day…I know a bit long, hey…Actually, I think it was because I was waiting for her and she was waiting for me to take it down and it was in a part of the house that we didn’t go into everyday…then one day Shannon ordered pizza and the delivery boy commented on the tree still being up and shamed us into taking it down…
I totally appreciate your “Thanksgistmas Tree”.
Hey, in the above picture, your little Superman looks so much like your mom…. they are too cute….
Love to the family,
Jody
Jody, I’ve told at least 6 people this week about your St. Patrick’s Day tree… and only once in the context of “well, at least it’s not a St. Patrick’s Day tree.” 😉
SUPER funny story.
Thanks, Olivia! It’s surely a conversation starter. “Is that a Christmas tree?” Why, yes. Yes, it is. 😉
I totally and with bi-polarity admire deeply both Nordstrom’s and Your Family. However, for my own sanity, I will celebrate both holidays separately, each with due reverance. It’s challenge enough fitting that darn tree in our small-ish house for the two weeks that we must.
This is probably my favorite opening comment line of all time, Cathie.
“I totally and with bi-polarity…” is the BEST descriptor of my life ever! Love it!
There is so much to fully enjoy about Jesus, about our families, about this life that is so fleeting. I’m all for anything that brings us together and turns our hearts and minds off of ourselves. Way to go, Beth.
Aw! Thanks.
My husband is the Publisher/Editor of a local newspaper, I am the Cub Master for 42 highly energetic young boys in Cub Scouts, we are the proud parents of four children, two of which have Aspergers. We live in “Chandemonium” every day. Would it be ok if we adopted your word and used it to describe our life also? We’ll share our word “slackatudity”. This word should be used to describe yourself when other’s think you are slacking off, but in reality you are working above and beyond the call of duty. Example: Thanks to my “slackatudity”, we will only reach 131% of our revenue goal for the month.
Oh my gosh – I love the word slackatudity. And I love people who make up their own words, ’cause sometimes we need new ways to describe the insanity!
Welcome to the blog, Findingmomma! So glad to have you here.
And maybe to honor an incredibly treasured little niece of yours? And because life with the ones we love should be celebrated when we can!
And that.
OK, now I’m verklempt. Such a tender expression of love!