Picture this: you hop into your car and turn on the radio. “Next, all your favorite Christmas classics.” The cheerful tune of Jingle Bells starts playing. What the heck? It’s the day after Halloween, and they’re already playing Christmas music!

We already know that the holidays are coming up; I don’t need the radio to tell me. Every year we’re bombarded with overly cheerful generic holiday ads and parents’ incessant demands to know what we want for Christmas (even though they know that all we want is cold hard cash). As if we need any more holiday spirit.

Do you want Christmas music stuck in your head the day after Halloween? No? Me neither. Fall is about filling your house with the delicious smell of your mediocre pumpkin spice baking. It is about curling up in your bed to watch Netflix (preferably with hot cocoa and a cat). Why ruin this cozy fall feeling with Christmas music, reminding you of all the gifts you need to buy? Not to mention stressing about the disagreeable family members you’re going to fake your love for on December 25. Do some people think listening to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” in October will make Christmas arrive sooner? Because I really hate to break it to you…. It won’t.

What it does do is drive people absolutely crazy. Can you imagine working in a department store while listening to Jingle Bells for TEN HOURS? A month before Christmas even happens? Have some sympathy. Please.

I’m not the Grinch, I swear. I love the Holidays! I just think we need to start playing holiday music later, so we can thoroughly enjoy fall while it’s here, and not hate holiday music by the time the season rolls around.