The holidays need to ho, ho, hold on

Published 9:02 am Monday, October 31, 2022

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By LAUREN SEXTON | Sports Reporter

October is finally coming to an end and we are just two months shy of the new year. Kids will finish out this month, going door to door, asking the question trick or treating, and receiving piles upon piles of candy. But with all the spook-filled laughter filling the air, does anyone hear the faint sound of holiday cheer?

Every year it seems like the holiday season comes sooner and sooner, so much so that it drowns out Thanksgiving. Holidays like Hannakuk and Christmas start their campaign to take over the last two remaining months of the year as early as Nov. 1. Sometimes I swear I can hear the sound of Christmas music when I’m shopping for Halloween candy in October.

I want to make it clear that I am not a Grinch, the holiday season is one of the best times of the year. I spent much of my time chopping down trees, going to see the zoo lights, and spending too much time listening to “Last Christmas” and rewatching “Elf” for the 100th time. However, I live for Halloween, and I don’t forget about Thanksgiving, have we as a society allowed the holidays to dominate the remainder of the year out of a need for the holly and jolly?

When the clock strikes midnight on Nov. 1, all the goblins and ghoulish decorations turn into all things red and green. It feels like the stores are beginning to start drawing in consumers to buy holiday decorations before kids have even picked out their Halloween costumes to go out on Halloween. Big box stores to locally owned stores have already started the campaign for holiday shopping. Stores have turned into Santa’s workshop long before the leaves begin to change.

The holiday season is so much fun, especially with all the incredible events Shelby County and Birmingham have to offer. The Birmingham Zoo lights, the Vulcan Holiday lights, the Rickwood Caverns lights and the countless city Christmas parades planned in early November until late December. Enjoy the Halloween festivities that the amazing community has to offer. Take your kids trick or treating, stop by a haunted house or stop by an actual haunted place here (there are literally so many.)

Hear me out, maybe we should all enjoy some Freddy Kruger and Michael Myers before drinking hot chocolate and watching “It’s a Wonderful Life”. There is so much going on between now and Dec. 1, so we should find this time, and take this time to enjoy the month of November because it has so much to offer. Soon you’ll be able to decorate the tree and bake cookies for Santa and leave carrots for his reindeer, but for now let’s just get ready to trim the turkey, create our Black Friday shopping list and enjoy Iron Bowl weekend. The holidays will be here soon enough.