Hear Me Out is a new weekly series where Journal Media staffers give their hottest, coldest and, where appropriate, temperature-bending takes on what we’re all discussing at the water cooler this week.

If you’ve got a spat that needs settling, or you need the input of The Journal’s extended family of agony aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. then be sure to email tips@thejournal.ie with the subject line Hear Me Out, and give us a take that you think the world needs to hear.

IT GETS EARLIER every year, doesn’t it?

It has long been the case that the commercial Christmas season has expanded well beyond its original 12-day parameter set forth at the very least in that one carol about a true love who gifts his partner with, among other things, way too many birds.

In recent years, it seems this phenomenon has only intensified. Department stores will begin rolling out their Christmas displays as early as September or August, shopping centres will set up their Santa Grottos before Halloween has even passed, and Christmas songs make their way onto the radio as soon as the fireworks have cleared. 

In this week’s edition of Hear Me Out, The Journal staff offer their analysis on the blurring of borders between festive seasons and the seemingly inexorable expansion of Christmas.

Kate:

I get accused of being a grinch every year for having what I think is a normal attitude that Christmas should start on the 1 December. The levels of forced enjoyment around Christmas drive me insane, for a lot of people it’s not a fun happy time of the year because it’s dark and cold and expensive and stressful so putting that stress (and frankly dread) on people in September AND expecting everyone to be happy about it is ridiculous.

Stevie:

Christmas doesn’t start early enough. People are justifiably unhappy about consumerist Christmas creep, but that’s not the same thing. Imagine a world where there was a year-round version of Christmas, minus the worst impulses of capitalism: fairy lights in January; barbecued Christmas sandwiches in July; and 12 months of cheer and goodwill. Who wouldn’t want that? 

Mairéad:

I think people get too wound up about this. Like I don’t think Christmas should be two months long, but seeing decorations from November onwards doesn’t make me angry. I know some people are really into it, and I’m happy for them. I will join them in December. Separately, I’d like to see the Venn diagram overlap of Christmas enthusiasts and Disney adults.

Nicky:

I love Christmas, the run-up to Christmas and even the fallout from Christmas. I almost put pressure on myself to make sure I embrace it and throw myself into it, so that it doesn’t pass by without being fully appreciated.

I think that’s why I’m one of those people bothered by the build-up starting so early. I don’t want less Christmas. I want to just savour it as much as I can while it’s here. Starting so early cheapens the experience and also distracts from other times of year we should be enjoying in their own right – like Halloween, or, if that’s not your thing, that beautiful time of year as autumn draws to a close, before the clocks go back.

Instead, by the time November rolls around, you’ve already been exposed to a lot of lights, decorations and jingles. I think it would be much more enjoyable to feel that build-up begin on 1 November and reach full power by Culchie Shopping Day. It’s not even the commercialisation that bothers me a huge amount. I would take a much more commercial, corporate Christmas if we could agree to hold fire until at least November.

Carl:

I would say Nicky’s view is broadly aligned with my own. I love Christmas, but I also love looking forward to Christmas, and the earlier Christmas gets, the less time there is to spend looking forward to it. 

I will say that if commercial entities insist on erecting their Christmas infrastructure before Halloween is over, they should do what Jervis St Shopping Centre did this year. They have an animatronic Santa climbing a rope as part of their display and they put a Scream mask on him to create some kind of horrifying Mystery Hallow-istmas Creature. It’s hard not to respect that. 

Christine:

I love Christmas so much and yet I feel passionately that it should only be marked in the month of December. Anything before that is just trying to part you from your hard-earned money.

Also it has become so over-scheduled. I talked to a pal last week about doing something for Christmas and all her weekends in December are already booked out. Tickets for a Dublin city department store Santa went on sale last week and sold out for the entire month within a couple of hours. If you want to have a memorable and un-serendipitous Christmas, you basically have to be planning it weeks or months in advance.

Kate:

This is so true, and such a big part of my dread/stress around Christmas. The girls and I planned our Christmas night out in early October.

Christine:

And in some ways that’s nice! There is no joy like the joy of knowing you have things to look forward to. But there is a lot of Instagram pressure to have these memorable moments which makes it a bit less serendipitous, in my opinion.

Rónán:

I do think people get too wound up complaining about ‘Christmas coming early’, but complaining about it is basically a tradition in itself, so go at it.

In the grand scheme of things, we’re bombarded by advertising in a much more intrusive and targeted way at all times during the year, so the early Christmas ads just kind of blend into all the other ads to ignore. Financially, let’s not pretend that people don’t have plans for Christmas months in advance too.

I’d draw a distinction between that and the actual Christmas celebrating, which really should be December in terms of festivities and maybe the last week in November for songs on the radio.

Susan:

Spare a thought for the last holdouts of the culchie Christmas shopping day, 8 December. I still can’t bring myself to put up the decorations until that date as was tradition (it’s the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and used to be a day off school, so everyone would go to the Big Smoke to do the shopping).

That’s the measure I have about how far forward Christmas has been pushed – everyone used to chat about it coming earlier and earlier but in reality no-one actually would dream of putting up the tree in November. Now I feel like the Grinch.

Shane:

There’s sometimes talk about a War on Christmas.

If a war does break out, it’ll probably be because Christmas started it. It’s annexed November and is now pushing its territorial claims into October. Does its greed know no bounds?

When do you believe people should start getting in the Christmas mood?

If you’ve been debating a topic with your friends, family and coworkers, and you want the matter settled by the Journal Media Galaxy Brain Trust Council of Wisdom™, then email tips@thejournal.ie with the subject line Hear Me Out.