When Is It Acceptable To Put Up Christmas Decorations, Listen To Christmas Music, And/Or Watch Christmas Movies?

With Halloween in the rearview and Thanksgiving staring us straight in the eyes, it's clear that we are about to transition to the holidays. However, this time of year means we get the age old question of when is it acceptable to get in the Christmas spirit, whether it's putting up a tree, decorating your house with a luminous bukakke of lights, or breaking the seal of Christmas music/movie consumption. I personally subscribe to the notion that you should wait until after Thanksgiving because I believe you should #RespectTheBird. Some people wait until December 1st, which is also fine by me. And while I wouldn't personally endorse it, others lather themselves up with the holiday spirit as soon as the clock strikes midnight on Halloween night. A family down in Uncle Chaps' neck of the woods did this and their neighborhood was NOT pleased.

NBC News- A Texas family said their homeowners' association put a damper on their holiday spirit by telling them to take down an inflatable snowman because it's too early for Christmas decorations. Claudia Simonis, a resident of the Lakeside at Canyon Springs subdivision in San Antonio, told NBC News in a phone interview Thursday that her family decorated their front yard Nov. 1 with a large inflatable snowman, a reindeer and a Santa helicopter. 

Days later, on Nov. 4, the neighborhood's homeowners' association, Diamond Association Management & Consulting, sent the family a letter saying the festive display was a violation and that the snowman needed to be removed. Simonis and her husband, Nick, told NBC News that she is pregnant and expecting a baby Dec. 25. 

They put up their Christmas decorations a little earlier than usual in case the baby arrives early and because they wanted their two sons, ages 7 and 3, to enjoy the display. "I'm pregnant. And it took us forever to put them up," she said, adding that they won't take down any of the decorations. "If anything, we're adding more stuff."

Look, do I think people that break out candy canes before they are done with eating all their leftover Halloween candy are reprehensible and are no better than the stores that sell Christmas merch in August? Maybe, maybe not, maybe fuck yourself. But throwing up Christmas decorations while the NFL schedule is still in the single digits of weeks is their right. What happened to just talking shit about your neighbors behind their backs and flashing a fake smile at them whenever you cross paths in the street? Demanding someone take down Christmas decorations during November, while pregnant no less (regardless of if the baby was immaculate conceived or not) is pretty much like spitting in baby Jesus' proverbial face. And if you spit in baby Jesus' proverbial face, I will spit in your face.

Wow, not sure how we got to talking about spitting in baby Jesus' face. Anyway, my personal rules are no Christmas decorations/music/movies until the day after Thanksgiving. But once you are in that lazy holiday fog of food and sleep that doesn't go disappear until early January, anything Christmas related is fair game. However, if you see this commercial air on TV even if it's before Thanksgiving, you can unleash as much Christmas cheer as you'd like because it is the pretty much the first robin of Spring for Christmastime.

Also it goes without saying, but there is only one Christmas song that can be played 365 days a year.

Also on the pod, Chaps and Large weigh in with their Christmas takes, we tackle the story about the high school baseball coach who almost got fired for telling a player to slide, rebuke the notion of keeping up with the Joneses whether its buying the nicest shoes or having the nicest "internet life" on Instagram, Chaps announces he is changing the kinds of panties he wears, and dive into the mailbag before a full round of milk and cookies finishes things off nice and sweet. Download/subscribe/rate 5 stars