Nothing like being under the gun to shop, am I right? I mean almost every commercial on television, radio, and even the streaming services keeps pushing the days left to shop as if we don’t know.
I worked in retail in my younger days and I remember how important it was to retail for these last remaining days till Christmas to push the ads, but as I get older why does it bother me so much?
I know for business whether retail or whole sale this is mandatory and for the economy, it’s needed, but for some reason this year especially it’s driving me nuts to hear each day how many days are left to shop.
Things have sure changed over the years. This year I noticed Costco pushing Christmas decorations as early as Halloween. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw a snowman on display for Halloween, and it wasn’t for October 31st.
Then as soon as Halloween ended, I mean within hours Costco, Walmart, and other retailers started the Christmas rush which isn’t a rush in November. It’s a Thanksgiving rush at the most.
I don’t even think when I was a kid or teen they pushed Black Friday until a week or two before. Now they are pushing Black Friday at the beginning of November. Whew! I’m tired already of the holidays and they are still 10 days away.
What I worry more about is the food needed to meet holiday expectations around the home.
We have a Christmas Eve dinner and then a Christmas meal as most families have although on Christmas Eve Patti goes along with my wish to have the Italian Christmas Eve tradition of the Feast of the Seven Fishes. I grew up looking forward to the feast more than the gifts awaiting us on Christmas morning.
Christmas Eve was special. It was my time to spend a great deal of time cooking alongside my Nona and Papa for hours. Sometimes a cousin or two would join in, but they never lasted. They didn’t get the feeling I had with being in the kitchen with the grandparents. I think they wanted to avoid the yelling that happened throughout the day.
Over the years I took over that special meal as my Nona and Papa passed away, but we kept the tradition going.
I started the tradition with Patti and the kids, but made adjustments to the seafood we prepared as not everyone including me is into eel or octopus. We still came up with the feast of 5 fishes which is close, right?
What this entire post boils down to is the issue of being rushed to get into the holidays that end so soon. I mean you spend months getting ready and then poof it’s over in minutes and a mess of wrapping paper and dishes is left to clean up. After all of the prep time, I’m talking not just hours but days and in the wink of an eye, it’s over.
It’s time to take time. It’s time to take back time and make the holidays last as they did back in the day. Remember those days? If not let me know and I’ll write a post about those days as I remember them.
In the meantime enjoy what’s left of your shopping days and the days to the end of the year. Maybe 2023 will be the year of going back in time when it comes to the holidays instead of rushing them to soon.
Be Well! Stay Safe! Happy Holidays!
Mark