Is it Christmas yet?

My daughter's already starting every day by saying, "I wish it was Christmas. I want it to be Christmas right now." Since she's 13 and not exactly brimming with ideas for what she wants to see under the tree, I'm guessing she's looking more forward to the week-and-a-half off from school than the day itself, but whatever, she's ready for it right now. And I'm ready for it to be months and months away. I'm certainly not ready for the 24-hour, round-the-clock Christmas music playing on a couple of local radio stations. It's bad enough that Christmas shopping season has to start before Thanksgiving -- why does Chrismas carol season have to start then, too? And Christmas front-yard decorating season? I saw a house the other day that was covered with enough lights to land an airplane by. Our across-the-street neighbors usually favor that mode of overkill, but this year they're going for the giant inflatable holiday figures, many of whom are already assembling on their lawn. And here it is the first week of December, and there's already a Christmas column on Mothers with Attitude -- Ken Swarner's admission that he'll never stop at 500 Christmas tree lights when 600 will do. Really, I couldn't care less how many lights he's got blazing; what gets to me is -- he's got his tree up already? Is he trying to make me look bad? We're lucky if we can get our puny little artificial tree with its strand or two of pathetic little lights propped up in time for our annual New Year's Day party.

There is one Christmas creation that has put a smile on my face today, though, and that's the clever interactive Advent calendar from Q Creative. Click on "Find today," then on today's date to reveal a picture, then on the picture to watch a funny little animation. As of now, you can view yesterday's gumdrop serenade or today's variation on "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" If I have to count the days until the Big Day anyway, might as well have a little fun with it. For something more spiritual, CatholicMom.com has a listing of religious online Advent calendars, most with reflections and bible verses for each day. But none, I'll wager, with a chicken laying Christmas ornaments instead of eggs.