Christmas is a wonderful holiday celebrated by many diverse groups of people. So popular, in fact, that 90 percent of Americans participate in this season of giving. After all, who wouldn’t love to join in on the fun games, steamy hot chocolate, snugly wrapped gifts and family gatherings? Christmas is such a positive holiday that there is absolutely nothing to hate about it.

Well, except for one, teeny tiny thing. The Christmas season oversteps its boundaries. Christmas lights and reindeers decorating lawns on Nov. 1. Christmas in July events. Christmas music all year long on the radio. These are all prime examples of how the Christmas season steps into other parts of the year in its snow-covered boots.

Before readers can convict me of Bah Humbuggery, I will admit to loving all of the classic Christmas songs and movies. However, I hate Christmas when it’s outside of December. Allow me to present my legitimate reasons as to why I am an 11-month Scrooge.

First and foremost, I must point out that Christmas is just as much a season of selfishness as it is of giving. According to the National Retail Federation, Americans are going to spend over $465 billion on Christmas this year. That means some corporate toy makers are planning on making a very significant pretty penny off of the desires of your younger siblings. This seems like a valid reason for me to be hesitant when businesses start advertising for Christmas in July events. These attempts at mooching off of the public’s interests sour the traditional “giving” theme of the holiday.

My second reason deals with the logic of celebrating Christmas in other months. I am a self-proclaimed month-oriented holiday-celebrator because it seems strange to celebrate a holiday multiple months ahead or behind of when it actually occurs. Nobody celebrates Halloween in September or Thanksgiving in October or Independence Day in June. Why is that, I wonder? If you were to walk into school on Jan. 9 and see someone designing their locker with elaborately-decorated hearts and Valentine’s Day candy, you might feel obligated to call them crazy. Imagine my surprise, then, when people begin playing the Idina Menzel and Michael Bublé version of Baby It’s Cold Outside on Nov. 1, despite the fact that Santa’s snowy endeavor will not occur for another two months.

My third and final contention is that excessive Christmas celebrations cheapen the holiday. Have you ever heard a song that you really like, and so you play it over and over because you believe that it is the greatest thing to ever happen to all of humanity? Well, after the 50-second time playing the song on a loop, you tend to get a sickening feeling in your stomach, as if you never expected such a heavenly tune to suddenly sound despicable. That’s a good metaphor for the abuse of the Christmas season. There are only so many Christmas songs, movies and traditions, and if you start the Christmas season in November, it sucks all of the fun and excitement out of the holiday.

With these points organized into a short argument, the only thing that I can urge the reader to do is leave the Rudolph, Santa and Bethlehem replica decorations in the garage until December rolls around.