Now I know I am about to sound like a real Grinch, but I promise that I do not have a heart two sizes too small. This is simply a pet peeve, and I feel like people are truly losing the true meaning of the holiday season.

Basically, my pet peeve is when people, stores and radio stations start to celebrate Christmas and the December holidays before it’s actually December.

When I walk into a store to see red and green everywhere, Christmas trees are already up and Thanksgiving hasn’t even happened yet, it boils my blood. It sounds petty but hear me out.

Halloween is the October holiday. You don’t see Spirit stores popping up in September or August. They suddenly appear on Oct. 1. Like they should since Halloween is an October holiday.

Once Halloween is over, people break out Santa hats, the movie “Elf” and lights.

But there’s a November holiday that you forgot. It’s called Thanksgiving, not that giving thanks matters or anything, right? Because the only November “holiday” that people seem to care about is Black Friday. It’s pretty ironic that everyone rushes out to buy things the day after appreciating the things they have.

It seems like the second you digest your turkey, people are climbing ladders to put up the icicle lights. I’m sorry, do you understand what the holiday is supposed to represent?

Christmas is to celebrate Jesus’ birth. It represents family and love. Skipping right through Thanksgiving, a holiday about being thankful, and straight to consumerism is hypocritical in a way.

I always say that Christmas is now a holiday about gifts. Don’t get me wrong, I love the presents, but I love having my family present more.

I’m a big family person. I see my friends as family too, and knowing I get to be with them and cherish them is so much better than a gift. And I get it, maybe showing them the appreciation through a present is how people do things. But is it really to thank them for the love they’ve shown you or is it really because society has taught us you have to give presents or else you look rude?

I guess it just annoys me that people get taken away by the flashiness of the Christmas season and it just seems like they forget what they’re truly supposed to be celebrating: Love.

Brittany McClintock can be reached at [email protected] or @B_McClintock17 on Twitter.