Selby Says: It’s never too early for Christmas joy

It’s no secret that I love decorating for Christmas. Anyone who has walked by The Citizen offices has seen our little historic Ortonville village in one of our windows, and Santa and all nine of his reindeer in the other window. One of my highlights of the season is seeing little kids walking by with their parents and excitedly pointing out all the reindeer.
Christmas decorations make people so happy, and yet, every year when I tell people I have my decorations up, I get the same question:
Already?
I usually have my decorations at home up in early November, and I take pride in them. We pick a color scheme each year and decorate accordingly. Last year, after the holidays, I got some rose gold ornaments on a steep discount. I completely forgot about them until I brought up color schemes to my husband this year, and he reminded me.
I went out and found some non-bulb ornaments that fit the pink color we decided on, as well as a tree skirt and stockings, and the tree was up in half an hour.
But I usually don’t mention it to people because a lot of people think I’m skipping over Thanksgiving or that it’s too early.
I disagree. I think it’s never too early for holiday joy. If you want to put up a tree in July, more power to you. Without fail, in early November, I’ll have a bad day and come home to a blank tree in the living room waiting for ornaments because my husband knows it cheers me up to decorate.
And with us having pink decorations this year, there’s extra joy. At least in my opinion. I was excited while shopping to find ornaments of little glass ballet slippers, a pink typewriter, a pink donut, and an ornament of Betty White from The Golden Girls wearing a pink dress, as well as others. There was even a set of four handmade Polish ornaments that I picked up, which honor both me and my husband’s Polish heritage.
In addition to those, I always get a wrapping paper that matches the decorations. Little pink trees on white paper was what we chose this year.
It’s not just about decorating, for me. It’s about getting excited for the holiday season. I’m excited to see my loved ones open the gifts wrapped in paper, and they always know which gifts come from me without having to read the tag because of the color scheme. I’m excited to pull toys out of the stockings for our dogs play with Christmas morning.
I always look forward to quiet nights at home when the only light on in the house is our Christmas tree. I read by the soft light, the dogs snore, Kyle scrolls through his phone and keeps me up to date on sports news. This year I got to excitedly show my best friend the ballet slippers and ballerina tutu ornaments that I found, since she and I spent our childhood in ballet classes together.
The decorations are a symbol of the season. They signify peace, love, and goodwill towards men. They’re a reminder that I get to spend time with my friends and family.
There isn’t a time limit on any of that.

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