I decorate for Christmas before Nov 11th and that doesn't make me a bad person

There I said it. I decorate for Christmas before Remembrance Day. Cue the eye rolls now.

I remember as a kid my mom would always start decorating right after Halloween. I loved helping set up the decorations and we would listen to Kenny and Dolly's Christmas album while we worked. It's something I looked forward to every year and still have such fond memories of.

When I moved out on my own, its a tradition that I kept up. As soon as Halloween is over I'm itching to dig out the boxes and haul out the Christmas decor! If there's snow on the ground I'm even more excited to get started. There's just something about the glow of Christmas lights that puts me in a great mood.

Then I came across the social media posts...tons of them. " Don't decorate before November 11th out of respect for our Veterans" HUH? Where did this come from? I had honestly never heard of this before in my 30 some years of life. It seems to be a very hot topic these days.

Let me start by saying that my Grandfather was a WWII Veteran. He was and always will be my Hero and I would NEVER do something to disrespect him. When these social media posts started popping up, I called him and asked what he thought and he laughed. I remember his words " I fought for freedom. Decorate whenever you want". He had never heard of it being disrespectful to decorate early before either.

I wear my poppy proudly. We used to attend the Remembrance Day Ceremony in our town, however thats become a bit challenging with an almost 2 year old who doesn't sit still so we now stream it online. My last Remembrance Day Ceremony with my grandfather was in 2016 as he passed away 2 months later. I am so grateful that I was able to spend that day with him. To see him proudly wearing his medals with all of the other amazing Veterans who so bravely fought for our freedom. That's a memory I will always cherish.

So where did this come from? And why are people so bent out of shape over it? I'm always curious what exactly people who make these comments do differently than I do besides decorate my home.

Nobody should have to defend their choices. Christmas decor makes me happy and excited. I love sitting with the tree lights on at night. Seeing the eyes of my children light up when the tree lights come on. Listening to Kenny and Dolly's Christmas while baking cookies with my daughter. It makes me happy and there's actual scientific research to prove it. Google it Ya'll!!

If you want to wait until after Remembrance Day to decorate, that's your choice. It's my choice to turn my house into a mini Clark Griswald's anytime I want to. Christmas can be a tough time for a lot of people so perhaps decorating early helps ease their pain. Or maybe they are celebrating early because they have a terminal illness. There are lots of reasons and honestly it’s nobody else’s business. Let’s just put this whole respect vs disrespect thing to rest. Be kind and respect each other’s choices because the only thing disrespectful I see about it is the attacking comments and arguments regarding who's being respectful/disrespectful. Trust me I have seen some nasty comments on those forums! Not cool. No judgement, just love and kindness to everyone.

SO please. It's 2018. Thank a veteran and do what you want because we have the freedom to do so.

xoxo

Shawna