Fall has arrived and with it has come the Christmas rush.

Yes! That’s right.

I couldn’t believe my ears on Thursday when I heard news reports of retailers getting ready to begin their holiday season promotions.

Even “Today Show” host Craig Melvin gave a countdown saying “It’s just three months until Christmas Eve.”

Anytime I hear Christmas countdowns they just raise my anxiety level.

There is a men’s clothing store in Jackson, Kinkade’s Fine Clothing, that gives a countdown to Christmas. At the end of their advertisement that airs on WLBT, they will remind you how many shopping days you have left.

When they get to the single-digit numbers my anxiousness turns to panic, even if I have all my gifts bought and wrapped.

I know this sounds crazy, but for me, countdowns cause concern.

While it seems bizarre to be talking about Christmas when I haven’t even put out my Halloween decorations, I guess it’s par for the course during this crazy coronavirus year. Talking about the holidays in September is just one more pandemic perturbance.

And while I may want to defy this early shopping rush, I learned my lesson back in March when there was no toilet paper to be found on the grocery store shelves.

You better get while the getting is good.

There is no doubt more folks will be shopping online than ever before, in an effort to avoid the crowds, which means also that next-day delivery may be a thing of the past, at least for this year.

So admittedly, I guess I need to start making out my lists.

I feel sorry for the parents of young children. Shopping early may seem like a way to relieve some of the last-minute holiday stress, but if their kids are like mine were when they were little, invariably, there is always that one toy they want Santa to bring that you don’t hear about until it’s almost too late to deliver.

And if you shopped too early, unfortunately, your budget might already be blown.

I was complaining to my youngest daughter about the news I heard about early Christmas shopping, hoping she would agree, but she didn’t.

She suggested an alternative way of looking at the situation.

The Christmas season is all about hope and never more has our country needed to anticipate better days ahead.

COVID-19 has stolen so much from so many. Not only have thousands of lives been lost, but moments in time that we can never get back were also taken.

Graduation ceremonies and weddings were canceled. Summer vacations and family gatherings were called off. Those suffering in hospitals and nursing homes have been separated from their loved ones.

The list goes on of how this pandemic has altered our way of life, so yes baby girl.

You are right. We do need the season of hope to begin, now.

So let the holidays begin.

I love it, Christmas music in September.

 

Terri Cowart Frazier is a staff writer for The Vicksburg Post. She can be reached at terri.frazier@vicksburgpost.com.