My neighboring town has already lit the town Christmas tree. It’s November 7th. This has really got to stop! Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas – I decorate more than the average household, switch my iTunes playlists to my favorite holiday albums (John Denver and Peter, Paul, and Mary), and generally enjoy Christmas shopping and baking. But really, there is a time and a place for Christmas and that time is December. And that’s all!

Though sadly, our public schools go to the opposite extreme and try to pretend it doesn’t exist at all. The argument being that it is a religious holiday not shared by all. Which is really a load of crap, because my kids learned all about Hanukkah at school last year. So, clearly religion isn’t the real issue. And I’d argue that the way that the majority of Americans celebrate Christmas is not religious at all (and it isn’t for me either). It’s become a cultural holiday – about family and sharing and celebrating.

I get that other holiday traditions are being buried with the over commercialization of Christmas, but I don’t think suppressing it in schools is the answer. Teach diversity and tolerance with lessons from all traditions. Teaching some while ignoring the most prominent is just reversing the discrimination.