“Feels like time for a change of season” – Daryl Hall and John Oates

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year” – Andy Williams

There’s a fifth season in our house and, although I live in Canada, I don’t mean the hockey season. There comes a day near the end of November when my family and I go all out for Christmas. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. When I lived on my own in Apartment Zero (long story), I would put up my few meager decorations on December 1st because of Diner. In the late 1980’s, I loved Mickey Rourke and devoured all his movies. When I stumbled on Diner (1982), I fell head over heels. To this day, it’s my second favourite movie of all-time. Diner is set at the end of December and, as the years went by, it became something I decided to watch only in December – and every December. All December. Because Diner became something of a Christmas movie for me, I decided I would decorate for Christmas every December 1st. So, that’s what I did in the sad, old days; November 30th – nothing. December 1st – Christmas starts.

When I got married and had kids, I implemented the same Christmas policy. However, getting all the decorations out and up on December 1st got more and more difficult as we added more and more to our stock. The kids were thrilled with every additional knick knack or decoration we accumulated and things soon got out of hand. Then we decided that we would decorate our house on the Saturday before the last full week of November. We’d spend the Saturday getting it all out, decorating, watching movies, etc. and it would give us that full week to have everything out and up before or on the first of December. I would often take the Friday off from work to help get ready for the ‘Christmas bomb’ going off in the morning.

When the kids became teenagers, they became involved with the other young people at church and they started to go on the annual retreat which occurred every third weekend in November. This presented a problem because, for years now, the third Saturday of every November was Decorating Day. The retreat, though, was equally important so we decided they would go on the retreat and we would decorate the Saturday before – mid November – or the Saturday after – late November. Here’s where the debate really started; when is the right time to get in to the ‘Christmas spirit’?

We tried it the Saturday after. This usually would give us less than a full week in November and the 25 days of December to be decorated for the season. By the end of that Christmas we all agreed that it just wasn’t enough time. For one thing, we own a lot of Christmas movies and music. We found it hard to get all of our favourites – the list was long at this point – watched in the 4+ weeks we had. And I struggled getting all of my Christmas music – particularly the records, which had to be scheduled at appropriate times – listened to. We decided that we hadn’t had enough Christmas.

We tried it the Saturday before, figuring that more Christmas was better than less Christmas. This presented challenges as well. First and foremost was the fact that the second Saturday in November can fall on or before Remembrance Day (Veteran’s Day). This day is very serious in our house and every year it’s important to us to honour our armed forces and those who have fallen in battle. We feel that it would be inappropriate to give ourselves over to the joys of the Christmas season when we should be considering those who have given their lives in the defense of peace and liberty. One year I remember Decorating Day fell on November 12th. That year we had a lot of Christmas. But this brought up a lot of things to consider, also. First, and perhaps least important, was the idea that when we go all out for Christmas, it is going to show up in our every day lives. In our attire, in our house decorations and in our social media presence. This can throw some people if they think it is too early. While I generally don’t factor in what others think of me and my family and the way we do things, I also like to consider that if some of our neighbours have a specific time they like to get in the Christmas spirit and they see our house and see that we’ve jumped the gun this can be a negative thing for some people, like seeing Christmas decorations in the store the day after Halloween. I know that in our home WE have a specific time and if I see Christmas stuff and I deem that it is too early (for me) that can throw me. But mostly the challenge for us was getting ourselves into the Christmas spirit as early as the first half of November – it just seemed early.

It can be a bit of a challenge, Decorating Day. We often wonder if we’re ready. As I said earlier, you feel that you have to suddenly ‘turn on’ your Christmas spirit once the decorations come out. But here’s the way it usually works: once the Christmas decorations come out, your Christmas spirit turns on. Once you start seeing the cherished ornaments and once you start doing the traditional things, it just happens. But that’s not to say that it would ‘just happen’ if you put up your Christmas tree in the middle of the summer. Hey, we all love Christmas but watching White Christmas in August is simply not the same thing. You could argue that it’s actually wrong.

Here’s the thing: besides honouring the birth of Jesus Christ, perhaps the most glorious thing about Christmas is it’s fleeting nature. The years we started Christmas early, the thing we worried about was would the freshness sustain throughout the next 6+ weeks? Would we start taking the glow of the tree for granted? It’s like watching your favourite movie every weekend; is something lost or diminished? Does it become too commonplace? By the same token, watching A Christmas Carol in the spring or listening to your Christmas records all throughout the year just tends to remove the magic from those things. In the old days, they often purchased, put up and decorated their trees on Christmas Eve – ZERO chance to get tired of it. Just the opposite: it was a wonder to behold, like a shooting star or a sunset. “Oh, I love Christmas so much, I could sit by a lighted Christmas tree from September on!” Yes, but come December, something has been lost. Even if it’s still a magical feeling, it’s a three-month old magical feeling. There’s a difference. You CAN’T stretch it out. That goes against the very nature of the Christmas season.

When you think about it, the most magical day of the year is December 24th, Christmas Eve. Not just because of the day that’s on the horizon but also because ‘the season’ hasn’t begun to end yet. Let’s face it; Christmas Day – depending on how you do it in your family – come mid-afternoon, there is a sadness that can settle in. There’s a line from an old story by Christopher Morley that says it well: “Christmas is always a little sad, after such busy preparations”. My kids would get excited early in December. School holidays hadn’t started yet and they were anxious and impatient and I would tell them “don’t rush it! This is the good time because NOT ONE MINUTE of it is over yet. It’s still all in front of you”. Once anything starts, it starts to finish.

Suffice it to say that whenever we decorate for Christmas it is on. That Saturday morning, we’re up early-ish and I bring home breakfast from McDonald’s. Then I will go down and bring up our Christmas CDs. The first sounds of the season are either Bing Crosby or Elvis Presley. The first song is either Bing’s “Silent Night” or King’s “Santa Claus is Back in Town.” Because tradition. Then, my youngest son and I will start bringing the boxes up from under the stairs. You all know the feeling. It’s like a cherished friend coming back to town for a visit. You see decorations you love and maybe there is a story about them. Always it’s memories. Simply getting the stuff out is magical. Then, when it goes up, it is wonderful to see again. We always say that our house shrinks at Christmas. Not just the two Christmas trees but different Christmas ornaments and figures, etc. come out and fill up any empty space in our home. In our house, we change everything: dishes, dish cloths, face cloths, towels, clothing, music, movies, key chains, whole bit. And, as a friend of mine once remarked – I go ‘all Christmas media’: everything I watch, listen to or read is related to the season.

In the end, the last week or so of November you feel yourself starting slow, letting yourself get acclimated, letting it all sink in. Come the first of December, after the American Thanksgiving when you can be pretty sure that it is generally acceptable to be all in for Christmas, you are really ready to dive in to the joys of the season. Christmas is a lot like summer: it’s this magical place you get to visit for a short time. You give yourself over to it in many ways. Every year, I pray that I will be cognizant of where I’m at. That I will wring every moment of joy out of the brief time that Christmas is here. That I won’t take one minute of it for granted. After all, it is the hap-happiest season of all.