When Should We Start Thinking About Christmas?

Whoville 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)'

It's the 25th October, only 60 days until Christmas! I know to lots of people it probably feels like quite a long way away, but I can't help feeling it's closer than we realise. I absolutely love Christmas. I've been known to start playing Christmas music early in November and I've already bought at least one present. I'm always the first to start decorating the house with tinsel and lights, and to place our plastic Christmas wreath on the front door. I think a lot of people grow out of Christmas, but I'm certainly not planning to. 

What I'm wondering is, when should we start thinking about Christmas? When I say thinking, I mean seriously thinking about it - choosing what presents to buy friends and family, what meat to eat on Christmas day etc.. Supermarkets have started trying to sell decorations and I have seen a lot of advent calendars in the 99p store this week; magazines will have already made their December issues, including where to buy the latest Christmas jumpers and ideas of things to fill your stocking; and restaurants have already started taking Christmas bookings. So it's clear that some of us already are thinking about it, but when is it socially acceptable to start talking about Christmas with others? 

Got enough presents there Lou? 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas' (2000)

For a lot of people nowadays Christmas revolves around presents. It seems to be the main feature of the day. Whether we are eagerly anticipating opening a present we've been waiting months to get our hands on or anxiously watching our parent's reaction when they receive a set of body wash for the third year running,  a lot of time is spent thinking about presents. Sometimes finding the prefect Christmas present can be quite stressful, not to mention expensive. No one likes to be caught in the last minute rush on Christmas Eve where you end up choosing something completely impersonal or out of budget just because you have no time and/or patience left. Believe me, I've made that mistake a lot of times! 

With online shopping some of these problems can be averted but preparation is still key. Deliveries around Christmas time can be unpredictable and I wouldn't advise ordering something in the week running up to the big day, unless you are willing to risk presenting a wrapped up receipt. More and more people are starting to buy Christmas presents earlier. Having worked in retail for the last month, I've had quite a few questions about whether there will be any Christmas deals and I've heard the phrase 'early Christmas present' more than once. In fact, just today one of my colleagues mentioned having already bought all of her Christmas presents! Now I'm not suggesting we should all be that organised but perhaps thinking about them now would be sensible. Especially as spacing out the buying process could help keep our bank balances healthy. 

Another question I'm interested in is when should we start decorating, thinking about the food we're going to eat and playing Christmas music? A lot of people follow the 1st December rule. But if you are going to order your meat from a butcher then you'll need to do this well before December (I'm not sure when exactly because we just get a turkey from Sainsbury's each year). Even if you're just getting a turkey though, you need to work out how many people are coming to lunch or dinner, and if you're inviting family to stay. You may have to work this out earlier than you think, they might already have a couple of options and you'll need to make your offer known before they make plans. If you're going to go away for Christmas, you'll start planning even earlier. 

'The Bare and The Hare' (2013) by John Lewis

Finally when is it okay for Christmas advertisements to start appearing on TV? I said in my post last year's about Christmas advertisements, that as soon as the Coca Cola ad had been seen the Christmas season had officially started but of course not all companies can wait for Coca Cola. In fact I am sure that all the big department stores have already made plans for this years advertisements, if not already filmed them. I'm keeping my eyes out for the first one I see. 

There is a lot of growing resentment out there that Christmas has been taken over by commercialism. It's turning into a display of decadence rather than a time of good cheer or a religious holiday. I can't deny that Christmas has got a bit out of hand, but thinking about it earlier can prevent this. Last year the government predicted that on average British households will spend £820 on Christmas and I wouldn't be surprised if they predicted even higher figures this year. But by being prepared for Christmas you should be able to cut down the amount you spend. 

My conclusion, it's comes down to personal preference. But if you want to spend less time and money worrying about it, then starting to think about it soon might be a good idea. 

My First Video Blog - 10 Tips to Stay Motivated

I thought I would try something different for this post. This is my first ever video blog (or vlog)! It's a bit cheesy but hopefully you will all really like it. I watched a couple of experts on YouTube for advice and used the family's 20 year old tripod. Sorry about the windy weather and occasional bird noises! I only had one morning to do all the filming and the weather was really changeable! The topic I've chosen is 10 Tips to Stay Motivated! Let me know what you think!!

20 Most Annoying Things About Living With Your Parents

I don't want this to make me sound ungrateful because I'm not; I love my family and I am very privileged to live with my mum. But that doesn't mean that she isn't really annoying sometimes, just like I can be annoying too. A lot of people I know are or have been in a similar situation to me, living with their parents after 3 amazing years of independence at university. If I'm honest I do find it hard living without the freedom I have become accustomed to. I thought the best way to get over how annoying living with parents can be is to make a joke out of it. A couple of people might not connect with some of these but hopefully most of you will! And don't think badly of my mum after reading this, she's the best.


1. You have to continually explain what you are doing today/this week because parents must know where you are every second of the day.


2. You are now the resident IT technician and are expected to solve all mobile/iPad/computer problems - especially relevant now I've started at EE.

3. You have no authority whatsoever. This is not your house. So are you supposed to ask permission for your friends to come over? (Starting to feel 10 years old again?)

4. You will get nagged over and over to do chores. Haven't you tidied your room yet?

5. You have to share the TV. But it's worse than normal because parents always want to watch programmes you have no interest in, like ones with subtitles or whole golf championships from start to finish. It's not your house remember so don't complain.

6. Everything that goes wrong in the house is magically your fault.

7. You have to keep explaining to people that you are 21 and still living with your parents, then endure their look of pity/ridicule.

8. You can not sit around doing nothing without getting hassled. This also means no more lie-ins.

9. When your parents actually have something interesting to go to the house suddenly becomes the most boring place in the world and you find yourself waiting for them to come back.

10. There is never any food you want in the house. This does sound quite spoilt and I have no problem with doing food shopping myself but if I come back from hockey at 9pm and want something to eat all I can find is Ryvita, salad and homemade chutney. That is not a meal!!

11. You have to share the car and/or wait for lifts. This actually doesn't apply to me but I know a lot of people who are in this situation so I thought I'd add it to the list anyway.

12. You will undoubtedly be treated like a child again at some point whether it is being told what options you have for dinner (which is nothing!!) or reminded to brush your teeth. How do parents think we've survived for the last 3 years at university?

13. You are now the fashion guru and approver of all outfit combinations. This could just be me and my mum though.

14. You have no personal space. Your room is no longer your room because it's not your house, remember? So you have to be careful not to leave anything personal lying around.

15. When your parents have friends around you have to be polite and interesting, pretend that you remember them even if you don't and listen to your mum explain to everyone why you haven't got a great job and moved out yet.

16. Even though you are the fashion guru (13) all of your outfits will be judged for practicality and you will lose count of how many times they have suggested you wear/take a coat.

17. You will have to repeat something around 4 times before they begin to remember it. Maybe it's an age thing but parents aren't great at listening.

18. Occasionally you will be asked to house sit/dog sit/cat sit. This could be just for a weekend or it could be a whole week. This means you have to do all the chores and the organising of the family house on your own. Duties include getting up early to let the animals out, feeding animals, walking animals, cleaning house, food shopping, all cooking and washing up, and locking up the house at night. It also means that you can't go out and do what you like because you are supposed to responsible for the house/dog/cat.

19. You will be continually questioned about how many jobs you are applying for, whether you've sent the applications off and why you haven't heard back yet. However when you ask for any help they suddenly lose interest and have no useful advice whatsoever.

20. You feel like you're 17 again. You have just gone from all the freedom your student loan can buy to back where you were before you left. It's like that feeling when you go on an amazing holiday and then come back home and everything goes back to the way it was, but it feels worse because you've had a taste for what's out there.

Obviously there are some great positives about living with your parents, like it saves loads of money, but who wants to read about that. If I've missed anything off the list let me know. I've made it easier to leave comments below.

For people like me who are keen to move out of their family home, don't worry it will happen.