Even though Thanksgiving is a week from today and what had been the traditional kick off of the Christmas shopping season is a week from tomorrow, nearly everywhere you look it's time for Christmas shopping.

The holiday open house was held in Le Mars last weekend, and the balmy weather (can you believe 74º last Sunday) had people mowing lawns for what they hope will be the last time and taking advantage of the time to put up outdoor Christmas decorations.

I got the lawn mowed, Christmas lights will have to wait for another weekend.

My daughter had her Christmas shopping completed before the end of October. My wife and I have begun making a few purchases, but are far from finished.

The escalation of the retail wars has been on a steady march for years. I recall as a child, my parents would purchase some gifts on Christmas Eve, and doing any shopping before Thanksgiving was unheard of, nearly sacrilegious.

There was a Thanksgiving Day when some of my older siblings and I ventured off in the afternoon to a nearby town that had a mall to do some shopping, only to have a convenience store be the only place open. It was a half hour drive each way, and boy did we feel stupid.

I heard on the national news that some retail chains will be open a week from today, hoping to lure shoppers in to walk off some of that turkey and spend some of their money.

On a rational level, I understand the importance of Christmas and personal spending to our economy. Without the Christmas spending, many firms would close their doors. Nearly two thirds of our economy depends on personal spending. That's a lot riding on your Christmas list.

Perhaps the reason we spread out the Christmas shopping season for up to two months is to allow consumers to spread out their purchases. Christmas is the largest holiday for spending, and it takes time for many of us to be able to make and pay for the purchases.

With so much riding on the Christmas shopping season, retailers face many difficult decisions -- what to stock, how much to stock and when to pull the trigger on discounting. In many stores today, if you see something you like, you'd better buy it quickly. Odds are that when the stock that is on the shelves is gone, the item is gone.

But seeing dueling displays of Halloween and Christmas decorations is quite surreal.

On the emotional side, there are many reasons to not crowd out Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is, in my opinion, a holiday in crisis.

A week from today we will gather together with friends and family to share a meal or spend some time together to give thanks for the numerous blessings too many of us take for granted. I firmly believe we need to preserve Thanksgiving and take at least one day to remember how good we truly have it here.

It's a quintessential American holiday, low key and family centric. A time to catch your breath before diving into the Christmas season. We all deserve and need to take this time to center ourselves and adjust our priorities.

After that, all bets are off. Shop till you drop, get up and shop some more. Carrying the bulk of the economy on your back is heavy work, so be sure to pace yourself.

After next Thursday, deck the halls, and if they get back up, deck 'em again. Light up the neighborhood and get in the Christmas spirit. It has a way of going by very quickly, so try to pace yourself and take some time to actually enjoy the coming season.

We pack so much into a month, it can race by before we know it.

Since we won't have a paper a week from today, I'd like to wish you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you enjoy the day, wherever you spend it.

As always, I welcome your comments. You can reach me by email at tstangl@lemarscomm.net, telephone 712-546-7031, x40 or toll free 1-800-728-0066 x40.

Thanks for reading, I'll keep in touch. Feel free to do the same.