I posted that I happen to believe that it is never too early to decorate your home and start preparations. For me I love Christmas and all it represents and not just for the merchandise. I also mentioned that it is up to parents to prepare their children all year about the real meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate it. I mentioned why should I get punished by not being able to go through stores to see what new decorating ideas they have that I might incorporate in our village and trains display that I put up just because other parents don’t want their children to get hyped up with “gimme gimme”.

I think I have a healthy blend of the true meaning of Christmas with the fun of Santa :) We started working on our village yesterday (11th of Nov) as it takes several weeks to get it and the trains that go through it all set up. We always take our grandchildren out on the first Saturday of December to a Christmas tree farm to chop down the perfect tree and then spend the day decorating it. We have a memory tree. Nothing matches on it really. We have ornaments that mean something to us. Each of our chidlren, their spouses and our grandchildren have their own ornaments and they place it on the tree. We have ornaments that one of my husband’s grandmothers made for our children 30 years ago. Each ornament has a memory attached and these are discussed as they are placed on the tree. It gives me time to spend with our grandchildren talking about school, what’s going on in their lives etc.

We always open presents at midnight on the 24th because that was what we decided to do when my husband and I had our first Christmas. Our Christmases are a blend of long time traditions mixed with the Spirit of Christmas.

What are your thoughts? Is it too early to get started for Christmas? Do you think stores should have a “date” that they have to follow to not put out their merchandise? What is your reasoning?