They've arrived! It's the holiday season!
Wait you say? It's not supposed to start till after Thanksgiving?
Pshaw.
Why? When there's so much stuff to sell?

I'm not going to get much support on this but here goes.
I really don't mind the season starting this early. (ok, september is pushing it) Having sales early allows me to get that commercial part of the season over with early so that I can focus on the real reason we are celebrating Christmas during the actual season.

I don't like how commercial it's become, but every year I make a choice when I see the ads pop up in October to look forward to the joy and delight that comes with the holidays. Those ads make me think "yippee! Happy family joyful merriment and food time!"
Not "Oh crap, I gotta buy stuff."
It's too bad the season has become so commercial, but rather than complain about it, I choose to let it build the suspense. By limiting presents and talking more about Advent and carols and family, (oooh, the pies, the wonderful pies) we can enjoy the holidays without all the stress.

Ok, I'll admit that if we had more money, we probably would buy and obsess too much about the stuff, so therein lies the blessing of having little money to work with.

So bring on the season early! So what?! We can start to do good stuff like being kinder and spreading good cheer and singing to each other (that's for you Teresa:) and planning menus...
I may say this tongue-in-cheek but the heart of it is true. The holidays are coming and the stores love it. Let's not let them win. Let's just use it as a reminder to be nice to each other. More people need to be just nice don't you think?