Every year, like clockwork, it happens. The first leaf falls in autumn, the temperatures dip, and before you can say “Pumpkin Spice Latte,” there’s a house on my block with Christmas lights already twinkling in the window. It’s November. November, people! I haven’t even made a dent on my Halloween candy, and already someone is hanging wreaths on their front door like it’s Christmas.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas ( the twinkling lights, the endless holiday music!) I mean, who doesn’t want to hear “Last Christmas” for the 47th time? The smell of gingerbread cookies wafting through the house—what’s not to love? But let’s be honest, decorating for Christmas before the Thanksgiving turkey has even been carved is a little much.
The Christmas spirit that you wait all year for, the time to finally savor the holiday magic, and then… wham! It’s everywhere during November. The next thing you know, you’re dodging Santa’s inflatable lawn decorations. If I see another giant inflatable Santa on someone’s front lawn so help me.

But, as it turns out, there’s a reason for all this premature decking the halls: retail therapy. Christmas is big business, and the sooner we start decorating, the sooner we start shopping. As if we weren’t already knee-deep in Black Friday sales—which, by the way, are non-existent these days—the Christmas spirit has evolved into something that demands we get our holly-jolly fix before we even finish our cranberry sauce.

But the best part, the absolute best part, is the pressure it causes. People, who once had the decency to wait until after Thanksgiving, now feel obligated to decorate. We’ve come to expect it—who needs to wait for Christmas morning when we can start our holiday in November? The lights are up, the stockings are hung—next to the leftover Halloween candy– and the Christmas playlists are blaring.

So, while I’m all for celebrating the holiday season, can we please agree to wait until the last piece of pumpkin pie is gone before turning our homes into a winter wonderland? After all, there’s something magical about savoring the moments leading up to Christmas, not rushing into it like an inflatable Santa on overdrive. Let’s keep the holiday spirit alive…but maybe let’s save the full-on decorations for after Thanksgiving.