Early decorations have tendency to be annoying

By Carrie Coppernoll

Published: November 22, 2006

Put down the holly wreaths, people.

Turns out, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Not Christmas. For some folks, Christmas begins a lot earlier than the end of November. My neighbors down the street must think the Christmas season starts some time in the middle of October. They've already hung beautiful holly and red ribbons, perfect for December. However, this is not December just yet. Their yard is not a winter wonderland; it's a fall faux pas.

The early decorators are alone in their premature celebration. When it comes to decorations, most of us are a little lazy. I probably took a little too long to throw away my pumpkin; my Christmas lights will probably stay up a little too long, too. I would take Christmas lights in mid-January over inflatable snowmen in October any day. How often do we get snow in October anyway?

Christmas, Hanukkah and the other December holidays are more exciting than Thanksgiving. Just like we aren't allowed to open presents early, we ought not decorate early. Think of how disappointed your mother would be if you opened your gifts before Christmas morning. That's how your neighbors feel when you install light-up reindeer in November.

My family always decorated for Christmas the day or weekend after Thanksgiving. Even that is a little early for some people. I'm excited about getting out my fake tree and snowflake placemats. But I'm not even going to move the boxes out of the garage until Friday.

Here's what MyNewsOK users said about decorating etiquette.

Leann Clements of Norman: "The holidays are too stressful. It helps to just take one at a time."

Jennifer Birlew of Midwest City: "Our family tradition is to wait until the Friday after Thanksgiving, and we're too old to change."

Joe Koptik of Yukon: "We might get out the lights to make sure they work, but it goes up the weekend after Thanksgiving and not a minute before."

Regina Wilkinson of Norman: "It's a tradition in our home that the day after Thanksgiving we pull out the Christmas decorations and start putting them up."

Richard Huddleston of Yukon: "Our family tradition is to wait until the Friday after Thanksgiving."

Frank Ray of Oklahoma City: "We start up on Friday after Thanksgiving. We are kind of slow, so it takes three days for us to get all the decorations up."

David Tedford of Oklahoma City: "I usually do it the Friday after Thanksgiving. I have that day off, and I refuse to go shopping on Black Friday."