February has Valentine’s Day, April has Easter, July has Independence Day, October has Halloween, and the rest of the year is Christmas. At least, that’s what stores, radio stations and companies want you to believe. Even though I don’t personally celebrate the holiday, I enjoy Christmas sales and songs as much as the next guy: not at all. Christmas is a wonderful holiday all about family and friends…and presents; lots and lots of presents.

Why do executives feel that it is so vitally necessary to advertise Christmas sales before December? Why must every store play the same, repetitive, annoying old holiday songs? I don’t care what holiday they are celebrating, I don’t need to hear “Jingle Bells” every five minutes. I’m not against Christmas spirit or the ideas behind it, but I can’t stand the presence of it everywhere before it is even relevant. Stores shouldn’t be advertising for something that won’t happen for a few more weeks. And if they do, why don’t they also do the same for Halloween and Valentine’s Day, which are holidays anyone can enjoy?

In November, I want to be able to enjoy Thanksgiving. I don’t want to go shopping for turkey and see that stores are already putting Christmas decorations in the front of the store. I want to buy a gift for a relative for Thanksgiving while visiting them, not buy gifts for people an entire month in advance. The entire idea of such a choice is ridiculous. Christmas is traditionally celebrating Christ’s birth, not the sales and rampant commercialism. While Christmas is an important holiday for religious reasons, should the gift-giving portion be given the same reverence and respect?

In addition, December is not just the month of Christmas; it also has Kwanzaa, New Year’s and Hanukkah (most of the time), so why don’t they get the same amount of respect and attention? I’m perfectly okay with saying ‘Merry Christmas’ over ‘Happy Holidays,’ but I want to celebrate the other holidays in this month. So what if a majority of the country is Christian? I’m not, and I want the same respect. Don’t cover a store in red and green, don’t play Christmas songs, don’t have Santa Claus doing a dance outside your store. I’m not saying to get rid of Christmas, but limit it and mix in the rest of the religious holidays.

The solution is simple: No Christmas anything before December, share the glory for the sales and songs for Hanukkah, Kwanza and any other holidays in the month, and please, please acknowledge November as an actual month and not just December, Jr.