Sunday, October 24, 2010

Merry Thanksgivween

We were at Target today, buying all sorts of necessary things like shampoo and hand soap and laundry detergent (amazing how we get low on all things soapy at once) and I remembered that I had to check the Halloween aisle for a Little Red Riding Hood cape.  My class does fairy tale plays every June, and every June I think to myself, "I have to remember to look for a Red Riding Hood cape this Halloween."  And this year I actually remembered!  So there I was, in the Halloween section of the store (which was surprisingly still decently stocked), and there the Target Team was, hanging up hundreds of Christmas wreaths.  One of the Halloween aisles has already been reassigned to spare Christmas tree lights, decoration hooks, and boxes of cards.

Hrm.  This totally weirds out my mojo.  I'm not a huge fan of Halloween, actually.  I love how my first graders get all excited (we don't dress up in school, but we have a big Fall Fest day of activities) and totally enjoy dressing my girls up for their dance class, for the Masquerade Ball at night at my school, and for trick or treating.  But when it's all said and done, I'm like... ok... put it all away... let's move on.

We host Thanksgiving at our house, and I do love it (Target seems nonplussed, although they did have more in autumny candles and yellow/gold/red housewares).  We have both sides of the family over and everyone brings stuff, and it's just a wonderful day.  Yes, it's a lot to do (I clean the house and set everything up, Handsome Hubby does the cooking), but there's just a feeling when everyone is sitting together and chatting and eating that you can't replicate.

But Christmas is the holiday I love the most.  Just the love and peace and togetherness and time off from work to hang out with the kids.  We have so many holiday memories.  I already have the kids' Christmas dresses and shoes (thanks, Target, for red shoes in both size 8 and 1 1/2) and have their portraits scheduled.  So I guess Target and I aren't so far off in our thinking.  It's just weird to see it all together, skeletons and fake pine wreaths...

11 comments:

Amber at The Musings of ALMYBNENR said...

At this point, all the stores might as well keep all the decorations etc. out all year round. *sigh*
I went to Target for the first time in awhile yesterday. I saw exactly what you described (and picked up the banana split costume for my dog haha)!

Unknown said...

That's hilarious! :) My dog is a giant, furry Chow. She is the most gentle animal on the planet... but I think she would eat me if I tried to dress her up in a costume. ;) LOL!

Alleged Author said...

I get excited to decorate for Halloween, but I'm totally with you on this one. I love Christmas. We were in Home Depot today and my hubby had to practically drag me away from the Christmas trees!

Unknown said...

Ohhhh I love the trees! We got a new (fake) one last year after Christmas when they went on sale. It's a 9 ft instead of our old 6 ft. I am so excited to put it up this year!

Alissa Grosso said...

Thanksgiving is nice, but it does't lend itself to fun decorations the way Halloween and Christmas do. Actually, I've noticed lately that there seem to be more and more Halloween decorations, but I'm with you Christmas is the best of all.

Old Kitty said...

It's when I see hot cross buns meant for easter in the shops now that I find strange...!!

LOL!

I love Christmas through to New Year - my absolute favourite time! I find that I'm loving it more as I get older - I guess when I was younger there was so much pressure to be partying or clubbing or going out and staying out but these days for me it's all about spending these precious holiday time with people I love and chose to spend with! And staying in just vegetating. :-)

Take care
x

Christine Danek said...

I do love Halloween and Christmas, but I remember when the fake wreaths didn't come out until Thanksgiving. I saw Christmas trees up at the end of September. Yesterday, I saw Valentine's day cookies at the grocery store. Really. Life is fast enough do we have to rush the holidays too? I really would love to just take it one holiday at a time.
Have a great day!

vic caswell said...

i get very annoyed by the early christmas-ing of the stores... grr... because i DO love halloween.. but more so- it seems like thanksgiving is all but skipped anymore. and i can't help but think it has so much to do with the fact that it's harder to commercialize a holiday that sticks to the purpose of gratitude. because gratitude abolishes greed, and that scares the tar out of the corporations who want never-satiated consumers buying and buying. depressed cash cows who try to fill the emptiness within them with meaningless purchases... at least that's the way i see it. halloween is creepy, crawly fun- but easy to commercialize. christmas is a deeply moving and religious holiday- but has been twisted into being something sellable. i think the commercial snubbing of thanksgiving is due to its uncorrupted (except for all that turkey day nonsense) nature- and for that i salute it! go thanksgiving!
sorry for the rant... just one of my pet peeves... :)

Sarah Ahiers said...

oooh yeah - we were at the hardware store for plumbing stuff and they had all their christmas stuff out! I was super excited and bought some lights

Kristin Rae said...

Oh I get so excited at the end of summer when Hobby Lobby puts up their fall stuff (it seems earlier every year, they may as well just have a seasonal section of the store and leave it out all year)... I LOVE pumpkins and leaves and the warm glow of those orange lights. I keep my fall decorations up from October 1st to Thanksgiving and I get all tingly knowing that an even BETTER decorating experience is ahead... CHRISTMAS!!

Jemi Fraser said...

It drives me nuts when the decorations are so early! Crazy stuff.