What Day of Christmas is September 30?

On Saturday, I walked into Marks & Spencer to the most ridiculous sight: Christmas trees. On every floor, there were Christmas things arranged in pleasing displays. This particular M&S has four floors. That's a whole lot of room for pre-October Christmas displays. I was slightly annoyed, but also? I...well...I kind of liked it. The lights! The gift wrap! The reindeer candelabras! I just went ahead and acquiesced. It is now Christmas season. Yes, I know that it's not been Halloween yet. And I know that there's Thanksgiving in the USA, which I know is meant to happen prior to Christmas. But we are not in the USA. We are, apparently, on Christmas Island (formerly known as Great Britain).

The thing is that I've been Christmas shopping since July. I know that it's unnatural. But it also saves a lot of money! We give each of our kids something to wear, something to read, and something to play with. I'm already done buying the things we need for E, thanks in part to scoring 1/3 of her gifts at Poundland in July. Yes, you read that right. I got one of the gifts at Poundland. In July. She'll love it, and she'll never know where it came from. Well, unless you tell her. (I'm not opposed to her knowing, just maybe it would be best to wait until she understand the triumph of a good bargain.)

I really love the Christmas season, and I hate having lots to do when I could be enjoying the holiday lights and trying out all the different flavors of hot chocolate that different coffee shops come up with. I've been doing my shopping early for years now. I always end up needing to get a few things last minute, because I am forgetful, but there's nothing big to get done right before the big day. I aim to get done by my birthday, which is November 28, and that usually works out.

Judging by the pace of autumn so far, before we know it, the Christmas markets will be open, and it will be time to eat churros in the dark at 4:30pm. We'll be away in the USA for the last half of October, so this will quicken autumn's pace even more. Really, we're just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the part of winter in which I start moaning that it's been cold and dark for too long. So for now, I'm going to enjoy what is. It's autumn, and there are Christmas trees in Marks & Spencer. Fantastic.