As Halloween came to a close a couple of weeks ago, the ghouls, vampires and spiderweb decorations came down, and the Christmas lights went up.

Wait, did you read that correctly? Yes, Christmas decorations are starting to go up. From Walmart to your favorite restaurant,  Halloween quickly became Christmas once the clock struck 12 a.m. on Nov. 1.

On ULM’s campus, the day after Halloween I saw students wearing Christmas socks, sweaters and playing Christmas music everywhere.

Big shopping stores already had some of their decorations out before Halloween to bring in money from the holiday shoppers.

I have seen so many Facebook posts about Halloween being over and people watching Hallmark Christmas movies-in November. That is a wild concept to me.

What happened to celebrating Thanksgiving before putting up the Christmas tree? What happened to eating turkey and waiting to go black Friday shopping the next day. Did you know Jcpenney is opening stores at 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving day?

Americans have become so focused on Christmas that we have lost sight of the importance of Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is such an important part of our American history.

Thanksgiving was created by the Pilgrims to appreciate the Native Americans for all of their help in growing crops and having a successful harvest.

According to History.com, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies.

For more than two centuries, days of Thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states.

It wasn’t until 1863 that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November.

But now, it seems as if Thanksgiving has been put on the back-burner and everyone has shifted their focus solely on the Christmas holiday.

We can barely celebrate a day with our families and be thankful for everything we have before we go shopping on Black Friday.

It’s ironic that we go to our families’ houses, eat turkey and pie, share how thankful we are for everything we have and then go shopping on Black Friday to buy more things.

Maybe there is not Thanksgiving music or many movies about Thanksgiving, but we have other fun celebratory events with Thanksgiving like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, spending time with family and watching your favorite football team play.

One of my most fond memories as a kid was waking up on Thanksgiving and seeing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on the television, smelling the sweet potato pie my mom was baking in the oven and feeling so loved by my family.

Christmas is a very enjoyable time of the year and I love celebrating Christmas, but I think we shouldn’t skip over Thanksgiving when it is such a rich part of our American history.

If Christmas is rushed to be celebrated, I don’t think its as enjoyable. Eventually, people get tired of hearing the same songs like “All I Want for Christmas”, “ Jingle Bells” and “Last Christmas.” Soon, everyone is ready for Christmas to end and all the enjoyable moments end right after Christmas is celebrated. Why don’t we give each holiday it’s own time and not rush them? If we could put up those Christmas lights, the sweaters, and the entertainment for just a couple more weeks, we would be able to enjoy both Christmas and Thanksgiving to their maximum extent.

What I mean by this is, if we have less time with our holidays, we appreciate the time we have with them more and try to make the moments that we have last longer and mean more. So this Thanksgiving, forget about how close Christmas is and think about what you are thankful for.

Instead of wanting to put those Christmas lights up, look at how beautiful the colors of the trees are with their vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows. Turn the Hallmark Christmas movies off and watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade.

Eat some pumpkin pie and save the egg nog for Dec. 1. Fall in some leaves and start dreaming about snow angels later.

Enjoy the time you have with your family because some will not be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with their families.

Appreciate all the food you will have ,because someone may not be eating anything at all.

Thanksgiving is a time for reflection of everything you have with a thankful heart and spending time with your loved ones.

So this Thanksgiving, don’t worry about what you want for Christmas, be thankful for your family, friends, and everything else you have in your life.