Originally Posted by
wilson
To me, the precise moment when the Christmas season begins has traditionally begins is that when Santa appears onscreen at the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. That's when it always hits me, and I shed a tear or two (seriously). In recent years, the parade's quality has really declined though, so I think the line of demarcation is a bit more fungible now. Thanksgiving Day, to me, is its own special day which also ushers in the Christmas season. The first full day of "Christmastime," I suppose, is the day after. In some years, when I particularly need a little Christmas, or when Thanksgiving falls particularly late on the calendar, I have been known to fudge a bit, and declare that the Christmas season begins at Thanksgiving, meaning Thanksgiving break from school. This frees me to listen to Christmas music on the way to my grandmother's for Turkey Day, a day or two early...but don't tell anyone. My decorations, though, never go up until the day/weekend following Thanksgiving.
I won't be able to open the Yuletide thread until Friday morning, as my grandmother is, um, not exactly wired. And anyway, if anybody is hanging out on the boards on Thanksgiving Day, then you have problems (Canucks perhaps excepted...sorry colchar).