And here we are. That odd stage in the calendar where discombobulation abounds. The second week in November always feels like a curious hinterland, straddling the final sighs of autumn and the first whispers of winter. Neither one nor the other.

The mild temperatures this year are further confusing matters. I stepped out the door into my back garden on Tuesday morning and as I listened to the chirping birdsong, I could have sworn I had been teleported to a spring day in March.

The good news is the fireworks hell of Bonfire Night is at last behind us. But now comes a perennial battleground so predictable you can almost set your watch by it. I’m talking about the thorny question: how early is too early to embrace the spirit of Christmas?

As has become contemporary custom, singer-songwriter Mariah Carey fired the starting pistol for the festive season at midnight on November 1.

Granted, she has a vested interest in getting the show swiftly on the road. Regarded by many as the queen of Christmas – or should that be the queen of Christmas royalties? – Carey is reported to rake in £2.3million annually from her 1994 hit All I Want for Christmas Is You.

Another modern-day harbinger of the festive season is the Starbucks menu. When pumpkin spice lattes are ousted in favour of gingerbread and eggnog flavoured coffees, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

This latter sentence has a knack for provoking strong reactions: folk either get a warm, fuzzy feeling – or they recoil in abject horror, shrieking, “It’s too early!!! Wait until December!!!” like the Wicked Witch of the West screeching, “I’m melting!!!” in The Wizard of Oz.

Social media is already brimming with sanctimonious posts about the “Christmas creep” and when it’s acceptable – or so-called “tradition” – to start listening to festive music, get the decorations down from the loft or peruse the shops for gifts. 

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Is it now? December 1? 12 days before Christmas? December 21? Christmas Eve? As a self-proclaimed keen amateur anthropologist, I find it all endlessly fascinating.

There tends to be an inherent snobbery about those who put their decorations up early, the suggestion being that it’s gauche and lowbrow to do so.

Conversely, those placing a smug embargo on all things Christmas like to delude themselves that they are somehow superior to those who light a cinnamon-scented candle or string up a few twinkling fairy lights to lift the spirits when it’s pitch black by 4.30pm in November.

It’s a peculiar and baffling stance. The notion that anyone believes they get to self-righteously police how others are allowed to relax in their own home irks me no end.

I’ve noticed in recent times, though, that a growing number of people are throwing off the shackles of convention and decorating for Christmas whenever the heck they like.

Good on them, I reckon. I’m all for finding joy in life wherever we can. A study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology in 1989 suggested that those who decorate earlier for Christmas are happier than those who don't.

We arguably don’t need 35-year-old research to confirm that. Nor any of the countless studies in subsequent decades with similar findings.

Not everyone is a fan of Christmas. I completely understand that. Some detest the rampant commercialisation, others lament a loss of meaning within an increasingly secular society, or simply don’t enjoy this time of year for a plethora of personal reasons.

All of that is perfectly valid. Yet, equally, it doesn’t mean that those who do want to get a jump on those feel-good festive vibes should be made to feel bad or lesser for doing so. As I saw one person hilariously post on Facebook: “Can’t see the haters, my Christmas lights are too bright.”

Susan Swarbrick is a columnist and freelance writer who specialises in celebrity interviews, TV content and musings on popular culture. She also loves the outdoors and regularly covers sport. Follow her on X @SusanSwarbrick