Days until Christmas: 61.

The last thing on my mind was decorating for the holiday. Instead, I was thinking about what I was going to wear on Halloween — only six days away — and what I was going to do with my family on Thanksgiving — 34 days away.

I take after my mother in our opinions on holidays; our favorite is Halloween and our least favorite is Christmas. Halloween night has always been my mom and I’s bonding time. As a kid, she would take me trick or treating, do my makeup and help me find a costume. Now that I’m older, our traditions have changed, but our emotional attachment hasn’t. 

Christmas has never been enjoyable to us. Extravagant holidays are not our thing — putting on fake smiles for family members we’ve never liked and pretending to enjoy gifts from people who have never taken the time to get to know us isn’t fun in any world. 

It feels personal that an unenjoyable holiday spans for months out of the year, while my family’s favorite holidays are overshadowed.

The sounds of Christmas music in November is enough to drive me crazy. When I walk through a store in the middle of fall, I should be listening to normal music, browsing fall decorations with a pumpkin latte in my hand. Instead, Christmas music is playing and winter decorations line every wall. The saddest part is: it’s all about profit.

Stores sell the idea of a joyful holiday for months solely to capitalize off of the holiday. Considering the holiday is rooted in gift-giving, it seems selfish for companies to use it for their gain, taking advantage of people’s emotions to take their money. 

One holiday should not consume a quarter of the year. It’s not worth people’s money, time or sanity. Other holidays deserve recognition, too. Christmas has nothing that any other holiday cannot offer, and it should be treated with the same amount of appreciation as any other holiday.