Working Wives & Bachelorettes: Bah, Humbug!

Some of you reading this may start to call me the Grinch, maybe even Scrooge, but I must admit, I am not ready to celebrate Christmas. I am still cursing old pine needles that have randomly found their way into my socks, am I alone? I am not even 100% ready for Halloween (costume ideas?) let alone Thanksgiving, Christmas music, creepy mall Santas and holiday decorations.

Yes, maybe I crossed the line calling mall Santas creepy, I am sure there are some good ones out there. I do not want to exploit my adorable niece so I will refrain from sharing her photo she had taken with Santa a year or so ago - that Santa was just disturbing. I still wonder why my sister thought it was a good idea to let her sit on his lap. For a good laugh, please enjoy these wonderful photos of other mall Santas - you can view them by clicking here.

Anyway, I hope I am not alone when I say that I am not happy about Santa’s early return. I have never enjoyed cold weather, the warm summer months are simply too short. Every year big corporations seem to sneak Christmas in earlier and earlier. I noticed the first holiday display this month while shopping at Target which already had a small corner dedicated to ornaments, stockings and wrapping paper. The over-exposure of all things green and red completely weakens the great feeling you’re supposed to have when the actual holiday arrives.

It is only a matter of time until Downtown Pittsburgh is covered with wreaths, ribbon and garland. Bell ringers will too soon be out in full force, making me feel guilty walking by not giving them some of my hard-earned change. Christmas, as merry as it can be, does not need to hog the entire fourth quarter of the year.

With all we have been through this year, can’t we make it until after Thanksgiving to break out the holiday guest towels? Perhaps I have no heart but I would not be opposed to holding off on the holiday spirit until at least the first of December. Don’t let me fool you, I am no scrooge, I do enjoy the holidays and one good snow storm, but I am willing to wait. I do not want to rush into Christmas so quickly that I forget to enjoy it. With that said, I encourage you to fight the urge of drinking spiked eggnog; after all, it is OK to not be the first one in your neighborhood to put up lights.