Last night at dinner my family had a discussion about our earliest Christmas memories. As I was trying to remember, I began to get sidetracked and started thinking about why Christmas seems to come earlier and earlier each year. I finally came to the conclusion that businesses are the cause.

For example, you now see places like Home Depot beginning to sell Christmas trees before Thanksgiving and holiday sale ads in the middle of November. I for one am not a fan of the early holiday season for many different reasons but I’ll narrow it down to the main points.

For starters, it seems like the gap between Thanksgiving and Christmas is becoming smaller and smaller which makes it feel like Thanksgiving and Christmas have been combined into one. I think most would agree that there needs to be time to breathe rather than rushing into the next holiday.

Second, I think that the holidays are about spending time with loved ones and enjoying one another’s company. But it seems that the focus has shifted towards finding good deals on gifts rather than being with family.

This holiday season, try to remember that family and friends are much more important than the gifts you give them.