Ah, Christmas! The joyous day of the year when people open up gifts around an ornament-filled tree, fight with snowballs in the front yard and watch Ralphie Parker say “Fudge!” for 24 hours straight. But let’s back this sleigh up a bit and remember the holidays that come before one of the best days of the year.

Wouldn’t it be nice to celebrate the last couple months of the year with each of its respective holidays? Even 10 years ago or so, the road to Dec. 25 never seemed like such a rush until now.

As the month of October still lingers on, people, even University students, should be focused on Halloween and all of its creepy glory. They should watch scary movies with friends, visit a local pumpkin patch and decide what to dress up as for the last day of the month.

Instead, when I played frisbee on the Main Quad with a friend last week, there was a student blasting Christmas carols from their phone. Seriously? November hasn’t even hit yet.

It’s not only students who create this problem; various restaurants and stores are also no help to the madness of rushing holidays. Cracker Barrel has numerous Christmas items already on display in the front of the store. At Walmart, one can pick out a Halloween costume in one aisle and a 6-foot tree and talking Santa Claus in the next. Even Hallmark stores release ornament collections earlier and earlier each year.

And the largest event of them all, which never helps the problem, is Black Friday. Countless department store chains have already released their catalogs for the big day when people shop for the best deals. A lot of stores are even open on Thanksgiving night, which is nothing but another unhelpful solution to this problem.

Once November comes around, it seems as though Thanksgiving is just another day of the year. Although most families across the nation say what they’re thankful for before devouring a hefty meal, some eat too quickly just to shop earlier.

Thanksgiving should be a day of humbleness and appreciation for what life has given us in the past year. However, in the last couple of years, Thanksgiving, to me at least, feels like another one of the pointless holidays nobody celebrates — like Arbor Day or Presidents Day.

Although the Christmas season can make anyone smile through the whole month of December, it’s time for people to take a breather and celebrate each holiday on. That way, people won’t feel rushed to start picking out a tree and buying gifts for loved ones.

So if you’re ready for when the big guy comes down the chimney, or ready to belt out the lyrics to Mariah Carey’s overplayed 1994 hit “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” you can wait another month. Live in the moment and celebrate each holiday separately.

Noah is a freshman in LAS.

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