5 plausible reasons to still not be in the mood for Christmas

It's just that I just set foot on Dutch soil, otherwise I would have definitely already had the first-second-Christmas-day question. I quite like Christmas. What am I saying? The anticipation can't last long enough for me. Last year, because of the lockdown, I dragged a Christmas tree into my house on November 16, but I still try to book a ticket to Timbuktu every year to escape. Christmas and I, we have a strange relationship. For everyone who also gets a bit anxious from all the Christmas chaos: these are the plausible reasons to not feel like celebrating the holidays just yet.

1. That annoying Home Alone is back on TV. All 5 (!) miserable parts. With a bit of bad luck, you live with someone who finds this extremely amusing and you're completely the proverbial fool. You're stuck watching that kid with those completely irresponsible parents night after night. ‘Merry Christmas ya filthy animal.’

2. Mariah Carey has really earned more than enough with her Christmas hit. Yet we collectively throw a few million from Buma/Stemra over the wall to La Carey. While you'd rather push All I Want For Christmas back into the speakers.

3. You're already stressed about who you have to give what to in God's name. Secretly, you're already browsing the stores a bit, but nothing is fun enough. As a result, you end up, you already know this, on the crazily busy Saturday before the Christmas crime in an overcrowded perfume shop where you can't breathe from the rising air. You'd almost voluntarily wear a face mask.

4. Christmas falls on Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday. Our cruel calendar has ensured that absolutely no one gets the joy of an extra day off this year. You might think: luckily we still have New Year's Day, but no: that day also falls on the weekend.

5. In the meantime, I'm already itching at the thought of putting the lights on the Christmas tree. The resin from the pine tree gives me an irritating itch that I still suffer from for days. That ‘ooooh pine tree’ sounds a bit different to me than that of the carol singers. Quite a personal reason indeed, but for me, it's a damn good one to not feel like Christmas just yet.

Fortunately, the festive noise lasts another 50 long days. In the meantime, I'm still scrolling through the last minutes on the worldwide web. While of course, in two weeks, I'll be lying on the doorstep of the local Intratuin for a perfectly symmetrical tree. That much is true.