When it comes to Christmas music are you grinching and bearing it or do you join the chorus of the Whoovillites? It is a heated debate in which each side hurls snowballs of insults at each other. You are either team, “the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear,” or, “your heart is full of unwashed socks, your soul is full of gunk.” Okay, okay maybe that’s a little harsh, because I know that I’ve been a little bit Elf and little bit Grinch during the holidays. I live in the household of the man who infamously says, “Thanksgiving is God giving us the chance to thank him for Christmas!”, so as you can guess, we are those people who say goodbye to Halloween and usher in Thanksgiving with maybe a single cutesy quoted throw pillow or dish towel. Oh, but Christmas is treated with an abundance of melodic magic and the sounds of the season are all our airwaves play from late October through early January.
Maybe there is room in the greyish-brown that is the mix of the colors of the season red and green. Either way, there is no escaping it. When it comes to Christmas music there are a few types of people:
Elf the Enthusiast:
You are that friend, and there is no shame in your Christmas cheer! Christmas music is on your most played playlist all year round. When you’re having a bad day Christmas music is your therapy. Christmas in July is the perfect excuse for some Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, and nothing will evoke more joy than the jingling of bells in your soul!
Ralphie the Realist:
You enter the season with childlike enthusiasm. Christmas for you starts with the first signs of Santa in the storefronts (and I’m not talking Hobby Lobby’s premature timeline). You fit somewhere between the eye-rolling embarrassment of auntie’s bunny suits and the joy of getting the Red Ryder BB gun of your gift list. These realists usually enjoy Christmas music to start somewhere around December 1st.
Clark the Crazy Griswold Giver:
You don’t mind a little forced Christmas music for the sake of your family, but you have your breaking point. Although you enjoy the niceties of the holidays like cutting down your own tree or the neighborhood rivalry Christmas lights display, a nervous holiday breakdown is looming. You might want to enjoy your Christmas music (and your stress) in manageable segments. The sentiment less is more applies to you.
Ebenezer Scrooge the Sourpatch:
The right time for Christmas music is NEVER. You thrive on the shock and awe looks of horror you get when telling that to others. You won’t find a thread of tinsel on you. In fact, hearing the songs of the season turns your heart as frosty as the Winter Warlock himself. However, at first, you’re sour then your sweetness comes out in the reluctant tolerance of playing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, at least on Christmas day.
Whether you welcome carolers at your home, close the blinds and hide, or join them in a bellowing chorus we can all agree that the music that comes with this season can fill our souls with great joy!
