And so, at 12:01 AM, on November first, it begins. There are two clear schools of thought when it comes to the Christmas season and the correct timeline. First:

12:01 AM, November 1: IT'S HAPPENING. CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE. LET’S ALL DRINK PEPPERMINT MOCHAS AND SING OVERPLAYED CHRISTMAS POP SONGS AND WATCH ELF THIRTY TIMES AND GO SHOPPING!

Versus:

12:01 AM, November 1: Oh no. I can hear them coming. The carolers. IT’S NOT EVEN THANKSGIVING YET, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEASE DON'T GET THOSE SONGS STUCK IN MY HEAD!

It is an annual battle, with lunacy on par with this year’s election. Everyone has their own strong opinions and they fall into two clear camps on when the Christmas season officially begins.

Many—including retailers, the overenthusiastic, and myself—firmly contest that the moment we take down the pumpkins, we are allowed to start jingle bell rocking.

Others have coined this as the dreaded Christmas Creep: when the Christmas season starts creeping up on Thanksgiving, or worse, Halloween.

This comic clearly explains the latter view. But there are no songs or good cheer associated with Thanksgiving! While it is sad that Thanksgiving can be overshadowed by the Christmas season, can't we all appreciate that Christmas really are the most wonderful time of the year?* So why don't we decorate our houses for Thanksgiving and relish in gratitude for the week we all get off from school, then immediately redecorate for the coming season? In the meantime, we can sing our Christmas songs in private and share our peppermint mochas with other revelers starting as early as we like. Let's keep our Christmas spirit (mostly) secret until after Thanksgiving. It's only polite.

* This article is written from one Christmas-celebrator to all of the others. No offense or exclusivity is intended to those who don't celebrate Christmas, or enjoy a different winter holiday.