By Matt Kyle | Staff Writer

Let me be completely clear: I love Christmas. It was my favorite holiday growing up, and it still holds a special place in my heart. There truly is nothing like the magic of holiday cheer that comes with Christmas music, holiday festivities and the joy of spending time with family curled up by the fire and exchanging gifts.

But, the issue with the Christmas season is that it starts too early. Every year on Nov. 1, everyone moves to put away the spooky Halloween decorations and put up the “Merry Christmas” ones. Mariah Carey infests every shopping mall in America, and other Christmas songs begin to fill the airwaves. By starting the season early, we are not only oversaturating Christmastime but also neglecting an equally great holiday: Thanksgiving.

Both Thanksgiving and Christmas are easily the two best holidays of the year. They are the holidays where you get the most time off, you spend time with family who you hardly get to see because of college and you eat some seriously delicious food (unless your grandma isn’t from the South, in which case I’m so very sorry). Sure, Christmas has presents, but both holidays are about family and everything you’re thankful for in your life, which places the holidays pretty evenly to me. They are both great, yet why does one get two whole months of celebration, while the other is completely robbed of its recognition?

The great holiday of Thanksgiving deserves its time in the sun. Other major holidays typically get their own respective month to celebrate; a good deal of time is spent celebrating Valentine’s Day in February, and of course Halloween dominates October. We only have so many holidays in so many months, so why does Christmas get two whole months of celebration? I simply am not in the Christmas mood on Nov. 1. I don’t like hearing Mariah Carey everywhere this early. Again, I love Christmas, but if I spend two months celebrating and preparing for it, I’m going to overdose on holiday cheer.

Thanksgiving is a great holiday in its own right. It is very sad that Thanksgiving does not get its own month of worship like other holidays do. Why can’t there be a Thanksgiving season? I, for one, would love to hear holiday carols about turkey and stuffing, watch movies about stop-motion dolls finding the true meaning of Thanksgiving and put up Thanksgiving decorations. Maybe Starbucks could sell a turkey-spice latte, or restaurants could serve Thanksgiving food throughout the month. Tell me that wouldn’t be epic, I dare you. (Obviously the Starbucks thing is a joke, but tell me you wouldn’t want to grab some roast turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes with gravy from George’s.)

So, in recognition of the holiday of Thanksgiving, I hereby declare November be dedicated to the recognition and celebration of Thanksgiving. Gobble, gobble, Baylor Bears.