We're hoping it came from the heart.

On our way to the movies on Saturday, Nov. 7, our older granddaughter, Ella, who is 7, and the rest of us in the car spied a local resident hanging Christmas wreaths on his house.

When my wife mentioned it to our two granddaughters sitting in the back seat, Ella quickly retorted, “That makes me mad. Nobody thinks about Thanksgiving. Nobody thinks about the Pilgrims.”

Now, given her upbringing, we do believe she was a bit ticked off. Our family has always made a big deal about Thanksgiving. The gathering of family, the food and being thankful for all of our blessings has been stressed. Growing up, my large family always had a gathering of relatives on Thanksgiving and, being a family of athletes, we would also enjoy being together to watch football after the big meal.

Ella has always been at a big gathering on Thanksgiving, mostly at home or at her great-grandparents’ house right next door. She was also part of the big, multi-family gathering we held a couple of years ago at St. Columba's Episcopal Church, where over 40 of us prepared and enjoyed the food and relished in the camaraderie.

We're also sure that Thanksgiving is a topic of study at Ella's school these days, as the holiday approaches.

The man hanging his Christmas wreaths had a reason for doing so 48 days before the holiday. Perhaps it was because the weather was so nice, or perhaps he is anticipating a big snowstorm. But whatever the reason, it seemed to be just another sign that the Christmas hype has gotten out of hand.

We haven't gone searching, but I am quite certain that Christmas decorations outnumber Thanksgiving decorations, 10-to-1, 20-to-1 or 100-to-1, in most stores. One local store my wife went to had a big sale on Halloween candy on Halloween, because it needed shelf space for its Christmas “stuff,” which was stocked the next day. That store has some Thanksgiving decorations, but in comparison to Christmas, you might miss them if you're not looking hard enough.

Yes, we know that decorating for Thanksgiving is not as popular as decorating for Christmas or Halloween, but we get a bit “mad” when Christmas is shoved down our throats, year after year, and earlier and earlier.

Don't get me wrong, we love Christmas — and so does Ella — but let's enjoy Thanksgiving first. Enjoy your family, enjoy the food and count your blessings before your wallet gets thinner next month.