Posted on by wherethejourneytakesme

sEAsons ~ counting down…already?

This landed on my door mat yesterday…

Really??

I am not even ready for autumn yet – I was still enjoying summer.

– well Mr Sainsbury I know you mean well and you want us to get ahead and you might well be counting down to Christmas but not here in my house – not just yet – try again in November.

I find this is consumerism at its worst – I am sure a lot of us keep having thoughts of Christmas; who will be where with whom, what gifts or cards might I make – some of you may even have those underway or have a cupboard stocked ready with gifts and cards from last years sales.

I have noticed Christmas cards on display in the shops since the end of July – there will be more things creeping in day by day now as the shops fight to get in there first and increase their yearly profits.  It seems that the start of the new school term is the signal to roll out anything Christmas with a gap in between for the Halloween merchandise.

When I was young my dad used to bring the Christmas tree home with him after work on Christmas Eve together with a couple of new china dishes specially for my mum from the local market.  We would have tea and then decorate it before bed.  Of course the decorations were fewer than we would have these days and we had already put up some homemade paper chains and those pretty expanding concertina cut tissue paper decorations that were strung from corner to corner across the room (I can’t even remember what they were called but someone may know).  Christmas then was much more contained – now it seems to sprawl across many weeks and months, making it a very watered down occasion for me to the point when sometimes I just want it all over with.

We all have to plan ahead these days and there are many preparations that we might be doing quietly at home but I really don’t want this time from September to December to become the ‘Christmas season’ when there is so much to see and do in autumn first.

Please can we not slow down a bit!

I would be interested to know your thoughts.

 

 

23 Replies to “sEAsons ~ counting down…already?”

  1. My thoughts are exactly the same as yours. September is much too early in my opinion, and yet I absolutley love Christmas, but I’ll keep it in December please. I find it creeps into stores earlier and earlier each year and then it’s as if it is over before it has even properly begun. X

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    1. I too love Christmas but Iike you I want it to be special and in December not in my face all the time. There are so many lovely things to enjoy in autumn – but it seems the shops cannot see a way to make money out of this.

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  2. I agree, by the time Christmas day is actually here, I’ve had enough. I find difficulty in finding fresh food in the supermarket in December that isn’t canapés. We’ve also seem to have lost the restful period between Christmas and NewYear as it’s not unusual for people to take their tree down on Boxing Day.

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    1. It is all rush, rush, rush now on to the next thing. There are many normal products we use that they actually take of the shelves in December to give more room to the Christmas foods. I can never buy the Yeo Valley organic Creme Fraiche which I use to make our Mushroom Stroganoff and you cannot get a small tub of cream they are all giant size for entertaining.

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  3. The Christmas countdown has already started in our CS. In fact, we sold our first pack of Christmas cards this week. Strangely, we’ve noticed that it is often tourists who buy them at this time of year and take them back home with them. I’m not in a hurry for Christmas to come as work will be crazy. I am looking forward to Autumn though and can’t wait to wrap up a little more and have lots of autumnal dog walks. I have, however, started to budget for Christmas this month, to make sure I can afford it without putting anything on the credit cards.

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    1. I admit I have thoughts myself on Christmas a few plans in my head from time to time of what I might do but I have a feeling with low profits this year there will be a big push in the shops and it will end up as nothing but endless weeks of Christmas everywhere you turn I am not looking forward to that.
      Hope you have some great walks – we don’t have a dog but have been having an afternoon stroll.

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  4. Oh I agree, autumn is my second favourite season after spring, and I enjoy lots of things about it but as I get older I fall a little bit more out of love with Christmas, it is so commercial and expensive and strung out. I remember Christmas just like you when it was so much simpler and easier and short! So yes I’m all for slowing down and enjoying the coming months of autumn and not the coming months of pre Christmas! 🧡xxx

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  5. I agree – but it is not just christmas stuff, but halloween, back to school, easter – it is just blatant commercialism caused by the supermarkets trying to catch a sale. It is disheartening and yes I would like to keep summer just that much longer.

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    1. It must be a dilema for the shops to have to make room for the Halloween stuff. Last year Sainsbury’s seemed to have loads of Halloween things left especially pumkins. I don’t think it is growing as quickly and as big as in America no matter how hard they try!

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  6. US retailers are no better than their UK counterparts when it comes to pushing Christmas as a consumer opportunity – the earlier the better as far as they are concerned. I have no trouble resisting. I rarely give Christmas shopping a thought until late November, at the earliest.

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    1. There seems to be the early birds who get it done in good time and then the last minuters who wait for the bargains near Christmas Eve but we have to endure looking at it all for such a long time in between – it can’t be good for us!

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  7. I completely agree. At school, we had to start preparing the Christmas shows after half term and if the decorations didn’t go up at the beginning of december, we wouldn’t get the fun from them, but at home it was as close to Christmas as possible. I did start prepping the food for the freezer in good time though.
    xx

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    1. I have no objections to anyone preparing when they want to – I am preparing in my head the same at the moment but I just wish the shops would give us a break for a while and acknowledge that there doesn’t have to be a money making event to push each time. They could display cookery books with autumn recipes and seasonal food – organic food – jam making equipment – baking dishes – quilts and crafts – there are so many other things during autumn that are interesting it doesn’t need to be Christmas decorations yet.

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  8. Christmas shopping is the only shopping I enjoy mainly because it is all about buying for others and not the everyday essentials. Even so Christmas shopping doesn’t begin in this house until 1st October, the day after my son’s birthday. At that point all I do is start to look out for those things we always have at Christmas being on offer e.g. Terry’s Chocolate Oranges, tubs of sweets, nuts etc which I reckon saves me a small fortune each year. I also had the same flyer through my door and made sure I signed up for the extra bonus points after all I spend enough there each year so I don’t want to miss out on money effectively being given back.

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    1. I haven’t read the literature yet about the points – I will make use of them if it doesn’t encourage me to overspend in anyway – just wish they had done it without all the Christmas hype bit! I too spend a fortune there already – I should have a place on the board – I have been shopping with them since the 70’s but hardly ever get any vouchers whereas my neighbour goes very little and is sent shopping and fuel vouchers with a lot of money off. There is no loyalty with these places.

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  9. I am not a Christmas lover, I find enforced jollity exhausting so I block out as much as humanly possible but customers started mentioning it at the shop a few weeks ago, and I have seen many mentions of it since, I can’t even think about it until Blackpool Illuminations have finished, just too soon – even for window dressing purposes!

    I was pleased with the 500 point Nectar voucher that came with that mailing though, that’s £2.50 isn’t it.

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  10. I agree! Life goes by quick enough already without speeding it up anymore. I would rather the countdown to Christmas begin on December 1st but as for present buying – most of the Christmas stock is gone by then and they are moving onto spring! I think all the seasons should be celebrated and I want to be in the warm tones of autumn for much longer and not see displays of red/gold/green or silver/blue combos that we are presented with for Christmas each year!

    Thanks for your comments on my blog yesterday. They meant a lot to me. x

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    1. Hi Simone – you are quite right about the colours – they began introducing autumn colours in Sainsbury’s clothes and homewares in July when it was really hot and I expect in a couple of weeks it will turn to the Christmas colours.
      I have just left you a comment – so pleased you sound a bit brighter. Take care x

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  11. Fall/Autumn is my favourite season too. I admit I do keep an eye out for Christmas gift and decor items. Last year I limited my Christmas shopping to the month of December, and it worked out fine! I hope to enjoy all 3 months of Fall without thinking of snow.

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