Let me start by saying that I love Christmas! It is nearly September and I have already begun storing some gifts as I try to space out shopping to make it more affordable.

However, to see Christmas decorations up in stores before the end of August riles even me! On a recent visit to a warehouse store, there they were….red and green, Santa and trees. Enough is enough. There is nothing but greed to be had by displaying “holiday sale items” already. Rather than encouraging me to shop ahead, the whole display turned me away from the store at all.

In years past, I have noticed the big Christmas push in October, before Halloween, and definitely long before the looked over Thanksgiving celebration. While it frustrated me a little, it was nowhere near the shock value of the current displays.

Let’s give these other holidays their due. While my children are too old now for trick or treat, it doesn’t mean we don’t like Halloween. We carve pumpkins and try to remember to put up some other decorations.

We celebrate Thanksgiving as a traditional family holiday with the turkey, stuffing and all the trimmings. Never do we have a Christmas tree up before that holiday.

And what about Veteran’s Day? We honor those who have served our country by attending parades and spending time with local veterans. They deserve this honor as they gave much for our benefit.

Coming up even sooner is what is now known as Patriot’s Day on Sept. 11. We attend the local memorial ceremony to remember those who lost their lives on that tragic day.

We celebrate several birthdays between August and December and none of those are made less important by the upcoming Christmas holiday.

This blatant display of greed and commercialism should not encourage any of us to succumb to advertising gimmicks. In fact, it should make us aware of how the blessed holiday is trivialized and made out to be for the benefit of profit alone. Remember what the season is about how Christmas stands for “Christ’s” mass to celebrate his birth and is not merely another day for us to be separated from our hard earned dollars especially not in August!