The autumn season is such a magical time. The last of the crispy leaves are barely hanging to their branches, soon to join the legions of soggy foliage that cover the ground. Days gradually become darker, shorter, and cozier. The excitement of Halloween comes and goes, leaving a wake of candy wrappers and pumpkins. Then, out of the blue, BAM! Halloween and October are officially over, and our focus shifts to December and Christmas. But wait! I may not have invented the calendar, but I think we are forgetting something? What is it called again? Oh, right! November! And what happens in November? Oh, right! Thanksgiving!

The winter season is indeed approaching, and everyone is itching to get into the Christmas spirit. The parades, gifts, spending time with family, Christmas dinner, and, my favorite part, the holiday cookies will soon arrive. But for whatever reason, it seems as if Thanksgiving has been overlooked. I cannot help but comment on this societal flaw.

Some say that Christmas is an enchanting, miraculous time that deserves all the attention. “Christmas or preparation for any holiday can never come too early. Although I love Thanksgiving, early Christmas celebrating doesn’t bother me because it is cheerful and positive, and looking at red and green lights and singing Christmas songs makes me feel extremely happy,” says Brooke Beck, a junior. Lydia Merkle, who is also a junior, agrees, saying, “I love Christmas, so in my opinion, there’s no such thing as Christmas coming too early.” Sorry to burst your holiday-crazed bubble, but, no, Christmas does not require all this attentiveness and does indeed come too early. Please calm down, and hold your reindeer (see what I did there?). Christmas can wait its turn. It’s not even snowing yet, so put your ugly sweater back in the drawer and stop worrying about your presents. After all, Santa needs the extra month to mentally and physically prepare for his one-night journey around the world.

November is a great month! There are so many things people overlook when they neglect it. “I think Christmas comes too fast. I feel like after Halloween, we should be celebrating Thanksgiving, and then after Thanksgiving, start celebrating Christmas,” explains junior Emily Heinrich. November’s seasonal dishes, for instance, are not something to forget about. After all, who does not like food?! In the United States and Canada, the typical Thanksgiving is a large meal, consisting of a large roasted turkey served with a variety of side dishes including mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. The majority of the dishes in the traditional Thanksgiving dinner are made from foods native to the New World. If you recall, we learned back in elementary school that the Pilgrims learned how to grow these foods from the Native Americans. The Pilgrims were incredibly grateful for these new foods, which is where we get the name Thanksgiving.

Flash forward to today, and the main idea remains the same. Thanksgiving dinner is still a time where people reflect on all the things in their lives that they are thankful for. Thanksgiving dinner is the largest eating event in the United States. In fact, most people eat more on Thanksgiving than on any other day of the year! But can you blame them?

Gratitude is not just associated with Thanksgiving Day; the whole month of November is National Gratitude Month. Expressing gratitude can improve one’s mental, emotional, and social health. In fact, research has proven that gratitude is essential for happiness. “The act of gratitude is also viral and has been found to greatly and positively influence not just relationships, but one’s own emotional status,” says Robert Emmons, author of an article entitled “What Gets in the Way of Gratitude?” from Greater Good Magazine. Overall, being grateful is important and a beneficial habit because it makes one a happier and healthier person.

Unfortunately, many aspects of society and the negative habits of its people prevent said people from expressing gratitude. Arguably, materialism and feelings of entitlement get in the way of gratitude. “A society that feels entitled to what it receives does not adequately express gratitude. Seen through the lens of buying and selling, relationships as well as things are viewed as disposable, and gratitude cannot survive this materialistic onslaught. The lack of gratitude is contagious, and is passed from one generation to the next,” adds Emmons. Materialism is especially contemporaneous during the December season, when people get antsy and restless for their Christmas presents. Junior Emily Silberger says, “I feel like there’s more of an excitement for Christmas [over Thanksgiving] because you get things.” Silberger is exactly right. To stop this trend, we must teach ourselves and each other to be more grateful so our children do not pick up this bad habit. Hence, future generations will be able to do away with ingratitude and embrace the positive feelings and benefits associated with gratitude.

When it comes to the Christmas season, you should always pace yourself when getting ready. It is easy to get overwhelmed with all the things you have do. Buying and putting up your Christmas tree, going out to purchase and mail presents, and creating your Christmas card are only a few obstacles that you have to overcome before December 25.

Making and sending out holiday cards is an annual challenge, especially if you procrastinate. “Nobody enjoys receiving Christmas cards too early. You haven’t worked out where to put them yet and one on its own looks forlorn. Nobody enjoys receiving them too late either. It makes the sender look shambolically disorganized, and it’s cutting it fine to send one back,” says Michael Hogan, author of an article by The Telegraph entitled “How Soon is Too Soon This Christmas?” You should aim to post your holiday cards by the second week of December. Even if inclement weather or the Post Office delay their arrival, the cards will reach your recipients by mid-December, giving them a sufficient amount of time to respond. According to Hogan, the ideal date to send out Christmas cards is December 5.

Some people get a little crazy with putting up their Christmas tree. Personally, I have relatives and friends who put it up the day after Thanksgiving, which, in my opinion, is much too early. “It’s tempting to dust off your baubles and untangle your fairy lights as soon as the calendar flips into December, especially if you’ve got over-excited partners or children. Yet pull the tree-shaped trigger too soon and it will have shed its needles by the big day, so it resembles a pathetic one from a weepy drama,” Hogan advises. December 13-15 is an appropriate time to put up your tree. This will give you plenty of time to decorate it before Christmas Eve and Christmas Day get too close. You should go shopping for a real tree a few days before. If you have a fake tree, you have more leeway in terms of when to put it up, decorate it, and put it away.

It is unacceptable for one to turn on the radio on Thanksgiving Day and hear Christmas music. Even the day after Thanksgiving is too early to play or listen to holiday songs. “In Christmas’ defense, there are not many, if at all, Thanksgiving-related songs. This being the case, the only seasonal songs to listen to around Thanksgiving would be Christmas music,” argues Silberger. When researching Thanksgiving songs on YouTube, you can only find songs for young children with the exception of Adam Sandler’s “Thanksgiving Song.” Students who went to West End Elementary School may recall being forced to perform a Thanksgiving song with the lyrics “The hunt is on, the hunt is on. I wonder what we’ll find…” under the direction of music teacher Stella Kruh in first or second grade. Why are we depriving ourselves of fun times like this? When you grow up, don’t you want to watch your kids in the play? Then you can record it, watch it years later, and think about when your child was cute and innocent; not the snotty brat he or she is now. Hogen recommends that you wait until the middle of December to tune in to hear Christmas music. “Shops are piping it out already, of course, but you’re not a shop. So, when to slip on Elvis Presley’s, Mariah Carey’s, Phil Spector’s, or Frank Sinatra’s Christmas album for the first time? We reckon mid-month, ideally while wrapping presents or trimming the tree. Unless you’re a shop, as previously discussed,” he says. December 16 or 17 is a good point to begin the holiday season with some “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” “Last Christmas,” “Silent Night,” and so much more.

When buy Christmas gifts for loved ones, you want to give yourself enough time to find the perfect present, wrap it, and mail it. Obviously, getting your Christmas gifts by Halloween is way too early. Hogan counsels people to factor in that some shops and websites have a 28-day returns period, meaning you should time any risky buys so the recipient has time to swap them in January. Aiming to finish gift shopping a week before Christmas gives you plenty of wrapping time and leaves wriggle room for emergency top-up purchases, making December 17 the ideal date to purchase Christmas presents.

Giving yourself adequate time to wrap your presents is just as important as buying the presents themselves. According to Hogan, wrapping your presents too early can lead to bashed, battered parcels by Christmas Day. On the other hand, doing it too late can be stressful too, leading to a “huge ham-fisted panic and swearing because you can’t find the end.” So, strike a happy medium by setting aside an evening, pouring yourself a glass of something festive and taking your time to do neat corners, thoughtful tags, and chic ribbons, he says. The perfect time to wrap your presents is December 18 or 19; you may need an extra day off from shopping the day before.

My favorite part about the Christmas (besides the gingerbread men and snowmen cookies) are Christmas films. But before we get into the Christmas spirit and sit down to watch “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” or “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” let us watch something that fits the November season. Do not forget, there is also “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” to watch! However, watching good Christmas films–say, It’s A Wonderful Life, White Christmas, Bad Santa, The Snowman, Elf, Gremlins–is a fine tradition that gets you feeling fuzzily festive and makes ideal background while gift-wrapping. December 19 is an impeccable time to watch your first Christmas movie.

Please don’t misunderstand my intentions of writing this article. I’m sure some of you readers are probably saying to yourself, “Jeez, I had no idea Brian was such a Grinch! Yuck!” I genuinely love the Christmas time. Those of you that know me are aware of how much I love baking cookies. Now add holiday cookies–fuhgeddaboudit! Heck, you know what I was doing while I was writing this article? Listening to Christmas music! Of course, I procrastinated, so by the time I started and finished writing this piece, it was already the December and Christmas season, which makes it okay.

Thanksgiving is in November for a reason; Christmas is intended to take place in December. Everything, especially holidays, has its time and place. “I think we should celebrate everything when it is and how it’s always been,” adds Raquel Colon-Boomer, a senior. As a society, we should be able to have enough patience to wait another month to celebrate Christmas the right way. Instead of having this unquenchable greed and anticipation for Christmas presents, we should take the month of November to be grateful and appreciate what we already have.

It is easy for you to get into the Thanksgiving spirit. Many stores sell Thanksgiving themed napkins, plates, and silverware. So, next year, before you buy that Santa or reindeer mug, consider buying something with a turkey on it instead! Gobble, gobble!