Christmas madness

So, you think it's mildly irritating when Christmas paraphernalia is put on display before Thanksgiving? What if it showed up before Halloween?

That's right. My first trip to the grocery store with William, and what's there to greet me? A ginormous display of Christmas cards, wrapping, bows, and other things that I'm not sure what they're for. There were some Halloween-themed things out in the aisles in the store itself, but it was rather telling that the Christmas stuff was prominently arranged. And since the passing of Halloween, the Christmas items have expanded, creeping into the store to take the place of odd Halloween goodies. I'd take pictures of it, but that doesn't seem like a polite thing to do in a grocery store. The other day, I was in a convenie, and Christmas music was playing over the loudspeaker. I thought I was going nuts, but I went to the grocery store the next day - MORE Christmas music.

Also, now that I have my tv working, I notice that there are a lot of Christmas-related commercials on. I had kinda been under the impression that Christmas wasn't a big holiday in Japan, but I'm starting to disbelieve that. Unless we've already hit a peak in Christmas decorating, in which case, I'd feel a little relief. However, I get the feeling this is just the start of a much bigger thing, especially considering that Benni-sensei is a self-professed Christmas freak. She's already been playing Christmas music nearly non-stop, and she's started teaching her students carols. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with my kids' classes other than the special Christmas lesson in the book. I'd like to have them make snowflakes, but other than that, I've got nothing so far. Still brain-storming on that one.

In the meantime, I've just got to attempt to hold on to my sanity for the next six weeks. Beacuse, yeah, I like Christmas and all. But there's such a thing as TOO MUCH Christmas.