Christmas Season Starting Earlier: Does it Lead to Holiday Burnout?

I'll admit it: I'm not always a Christmas person. In the past I've had my moments of seasonal depression, and as much as I promise myself I'll feel sunny and upbeat over the holidays, Christmas sometimes makes me feel a little blue. Even when nothing's wrong, and I should feel on top of the world, there gets to be a point over the holidays when the rows and rows of Christmas merchandise and glittering Christmas trees start to close in on me and I can't even breathe.

So imagine my horror when retailers declared that Christmas was going to start even earlier this year. Sure when August rolls around, you'll see the retailers start to haul out some modest displays of Christmas ornaments, but they usually weave them in discretely among the tidal wave of fall pumpkins and Halloween merchandise.

But one morning I woke up this year and it was full on Christmas merchandising in all my local stores. It wasn't even the middle of October, but local malls were having big discount Christmas sales, and evidently it was working, because local news reports showed shoppers descending on the mall, loaded down with bargains at prices too good to pass up. On top of that, one day when I went through the speedy checkout at the local grocery store, the employees there were wearing fuzzy Santa hats, and it wasn't even close to the Halloween holiday!

I flipped by the home shopping channels QVC and HSN, and both were dueling to see who could cram the most Christmas trees and holiday garlands on a soundstage. On these channels, a clock frequently flashes on the air during Christmas season, one that shows how many shopping days until Christmas (a clock that program hosts say strikes fear into the hearts of holiday shoppers everywhere, because as days tick by, they're running out of time to get that perfect holiday gift!)

In the past few years, I've noticed that stores are putting up their holidays displays a little earlier. But it's nothing compared to the Christmas push I've witnessed this year, as retailers hope to survive the recession by declaring that the Christmas shopping season is at least two months long. With money so tight, and those expenses like big fuel bills on the horizon, the thinking is to get the consumer to buy things earlier and earlier in the season, when they hopefully have more disposable cash to spend.

Last year something came over me, and I began to look at Christmas a little differently. Maybe it's all the talk these days about saving the earth, but when I surveyed the ten foot high piles of plastic bows, wrapping paper and other holiday paraphernalia at places like Wal-Mart, my immediate reaction was: what a load of stuff that isn't going to biodegrade in a landfill.

Places like the big box store love to capitalize on our desire to buy something new. For example, Mom has a stockpile of wrapping paper at home, but she was seduced by all the pretty rolls of paper with fun images of Christmas puppies and kitties. She almost bought even more wrapping paper this year, but couldn't justify it.

A few years ago, she picked up a trunk full of pretty paper at the drugstore when they had Black Friday madness and it was fifty cents a roll! We could paper a city with Mom's stash, so we refrained from picking up yet another roll of heavily discounted pre-Halloween early bird Christmas sale wrapping paper. Sometimes it really takes discipline not to get sucked into all the Christmas marketing that seduces us to buy more (but that cat wrapping paper was so adorable!)

I wonder if all this stuff we're supposed to buy for Christmas isn't just disposable trappings that will only end up in the garbage, eventually harming the environment (what a legacy to leave for our children, and grandchildren...).

Then there's the buyer's remorse to contend with after the holidays, as people overspend because they feel it's expected of them or they get caught up in the rush of Christmas shopping excitement, or those discounts at the mall were just too good to pass up! This is really the dark side of Christmas, the rampant consumerism and the artificial commercialized feel of it all.

How to combat the overwhelming Christmas fatigue? For me, I think it's about going back to basics. My family isn't going to be shopping as much this year. My parents are older and already thinking about downsizing a lot of stuff. This letting go of old things, has reminded me that life isn't about material objects. I think we'll be having a quiet Christmas hauling out some old (but good!) Christmas decorations and just focusing on what really matters, which is family and togetherness, not holiday madness.

I've been thinking about volunteering my time and resources, also. Christmas seems a great time to give back, but this message gets lost in the holiday shuffle. Instead of hitting the stores so much, I'll be donating to local charities I'm passionate about. And when I feel pressured by holiday expectations, I plan on giving myself permission to pull back a little, and seek some calm and balance in all the insanity.

However, with all my good intentions of sailing through Christmas with cheer, there still comes a point when all the rows of dancing furry Holiday animals at the big box store seem to be pressing in on me (press my paw and I'll sing "Santa Baby!") Being surrounded by Christmas trees and holiday lights is already giving me burnout, and it's not even Thanksgiving yet!

If Christmas starts even earlier next year, and it's pretty unthinkable, I'll guess I'll just have to go underground until spring.