There will always be critics of the early start to holiday advertising.

There was a time when I didn't like it, but those were simpler times. And busier times.

I have come to realize, with maturity, all that is involved in getting "prepared" for the season, so I start early, too, before the ad man's nudge.

I do it for the simple reason I can. I don't have toddlers underfoot. I am not attending Little League games or PTA meetings. I don't work full time and do not have to have a hot meal on the table every day. I feed my dog. That's it.

I don't need my dining room table for meals but once a year, usually Christmas dinner, or perhaps a holiday party.

Since last week, that table has been covered with wrappings, ribbons and package trims picked up since last Christmas. I've wrapped several gifts.

I start before Thanksgiving and give thanks I am able to do that. That's the good fortune which comes from getting older.

I have more time to fuss. Lucky me.

But we've all noticed and remarked with disgust, "It just gets earlier and earlier."

It's not imagined. It's true.

You can liken the early starts out of the gate for the holidays with the fashions we saw on runways in September. They're for spring 2008 and many are already hitting stores. We haven't worn our fleece-lined Uggs yet!

Promoting early isn't just about the holidays.

Everything these days is about speeding it up. We have become creatures who want it now, and we want the latest and the best and the most for our money. When we are ready. Don't bug us early.

But blaming mercenary merchants for the early displays isn't really fair. They are trying to make money, yes, but they are also trying to please us as customers. And they have to start early to do that, and take chances they ordered the right merchandise.

Most people who work in retail, and have to think about it on buying trips in July, are not fans of "White Christmas" when it finally arrives. Think Scrooge, and you can't blame them.

They've been gearing up for this even before the early ads for pre-Christmas sales.

They are thinking holiday even as they dress windows for bikinis and summer resort wear. Bah humbug. I can understand.

We might not be quite ready to shop when that first bough of holly or twinkle lights are hung in a store window, but when we are ready to make out our lists and check them twice, the stores had better have what we want.

Those incredible holiday window displays just unveiled didn't happen overnight.

They weren't put there in an hour, the night before. The plans for a coming year begin the year before we even see them.

You think ads start too early? Think about these planners.

Stop to think about the chore of decorating your house, even if it is just the living room, or hanging a wreath on the door. Shopping lists are endless and there is never enough time ... or so it seems.

It all takes time.

So think about decorating an entire store, or a mall, or the tradition and thrill of Light-Up Night in Pittsburgh, hoping to please thousands.

Think about store managers having to think so far ahead, in order to please us, to put us in the mood to buy. And think of fewer employees to do all of the above.

Yes, it's commercial. Overblown, overdone at times. But what these holidays stand for, beyond buying and selling and decorating, should be a 12-month thing ... just trying to make someone else happy. I like thinking about those smiles year-round.