Holiday season kicks off Sunday
Collectively Colette
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After I eat candy, wear orange and watch a Halloween-themed movie on Oct. 31, I wait for Mariah Carey's annual TikTok video at midnight that declares the start of the Christmas season.
For those who aren't chronically online, people joke that Mariah Carey -- who sings the Christmas anthem "All I Want for Christmas Is You" -- is "defrosting" when Christmas time is near. Some people start cracking that joke around Halloween, while others start in the middle of summer.
It's a question as old as time: when is it appropriate to start celebrating Christmas?
Christmas is undoubtedly the most popular holiday in Western culture. Huge chain department stores, hungry for more money, capitalize on the holiday, persuading shoppers that they need a Santa-shaped soap dispenser. That's why I try to find my Santa-shaped soap dispensers at second-hand stores.
I think celebrating Christmas after Halloween is over is fair game. My artificial Christmas tree is part of my Thanksgiving decorations, but it sits undecorated for a few weeks because I take forever arranging and rearranging different bulbs and personal ornaments from my grandma.
However, I usually wait until mid-November or after Thanksgiving to listen to Bing Crosby's holiday vinyl or watch "Elf." I struggle to listen to music or watch movies until Christmas is about a month away. Otherwise, I'll get tired of it by December.
I've told many people about my own traditions, and I've received mixed reviews. Some laugh in my face, while others nod along, revealing that they started listening to holiday songs yesterday.
But I'm not alone. Growing up, I knew my aunt, Barb Murphy, would listen to her holiday albums in September before the bags of Utz Halloween-themed pretzels went on clearance at Walmart.
"I always start with Christmas music," she said. "I always tell my kids I'm testing my CDs to make sure they work. I say it as an excuse."
Canadian artist Michael Buble sings some of her favorite Christmas songs, she said. But if any artist releases a holiday album, odds are that she owns it.
Christmas music has always been Murphy's favorite part of Christmas, as it reminds her of her childhood, when her Polish family decorated their home for Christmas. Carrying those beloved family traditions into her life as a wife and mother, she and her four children also love decorating for the holiday.
One of her daughters, Noel Topka, recently had her Christmas-themed wedding in mid-December. She decorated the tables with an assortment of snow-frosted trees.
"Every one of my kids has it in them," Murphy said.
For Murphy, Christmas is far more than a commercialized holiday, but a meaningful time of year that goes beyond artificial trees and wish lists.
"I love the peaceful part of Christmas Day after everyone opens their presents," she said. "It's quiet, and I can think."
Many Christmas traditions, such as decorating, music and movies, come from family rituals, which is why everyone who celebrates Christmas starts their celebrations at different times of the year. When my family bought live Christmas trees, we went to Kline's Tree Farm in Carrolltown every Black Friday to cut one down together. Standing in the middle of the tree farm, bundled in a puffy winter coat and with a runny nose, I enjoyed every minute of picking out the perfect tree because it was a family tradition, no matter what day we did it.
"You feel so good that time of year, so you want to start," Murphy said.
Mirror Staff Writer Colette Costlow is at 814-946-7414 and can also be found on Instagram and Facebook @colettecostlow.