Thanksgiving in America is still a week away and yet some stores have had their Christmas decorations in place since Nov. 1, according to MassLive. Some homes have also added Christmas details to their Thanksgiving decorations, prompting others to wonder if it's premature to start the Christmas cheer early.
In Northern Ireland, Santa decorations are already appearing in the streets and in seaside houses, according to Belfast Live, while putting Christmas decorations earlier became an issue in Canada, according to The Star. The country observes Remembrance Day in mid-November, but some stores donned Christmas decorations around this time, too. Some of the locals thought that it was disrespectful.
Sales of Christmas decorations also hit earlier in a Home Depot outlet in Florida and a City Mill store in Hawaii. The items were on the shelves around September and some shoppers didn't seem to mind this.
"I think everything really is a little too early," said Annay Stephens, a Home Depot shopper, according to WJHG. "But by the same token, the season goes by so fast. If you don't go head and get a jump on it and get everything decorated and done, then it'll fly right by."
"I enjoy seeing it. It kind of throws the holidays into regular life. We can kind of be distracted and can get ready for Christmas!" said Noe Perry, a shopper at City Mills, according to KITV.
Meanwhile, some North Wales residents think it's still not the right time to put up decorations, according to a poll from the Daily Post. "There are 12 days of Christmas and none of them are in November!" said one reader. However, it's not stopping other residents from decorating ahead. "I think it is up to the individual, so what if someone wants to put the decorations up early it doesn't do anybody any harm," another reader said.
Psychologist Keith Dobson doesn't see anything wrong with decorating earlier for Christmas, especially in the current state of the world with recent terrorist attacks and the economic slump. "You know, decorating is relatively inexpensive and people probably have their decorations hidden away in boxes somewhere. So, that's one way that you actually can celebrate the season without spending usually a lot of money," he told 660 News. The depression and anxiety specialist also said that the lights and Christmas ornaments could positively boost one's mood, but the most important thing is to keep things in perspective since Christmas is about "family and sharing good times" after all.
