It’s not just beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

It has for a while, now.

According to adage.com, the Web site of Advertising Age magazine, Toys R Us had a Christmas display up in September, and HSN was featuring snow flakes and antlers in October. A Kansas City radio station dedicated to playing Christmas music around the clock began the day after Halloween, shops filled up with holiday cheer long before any was really called for, and Santa showed up before the turkey was even stuffed.

“That’s just absurd,” says the Rev. Scott Killgore, senior pastor at Wyatt Park Christian Church of the radio stations jingling their bells so early.

So what’s wrong with an extended holiday season?

“I think that’s kind of a detriment because people get fed up with it,” says Ralph Liebetrau, owner of Decori, a Christmas shop in Parkville, Mo.

He remembers in the ‘50s and ‘60s when the tree and decorations weren’t put up until Christmas Eve and were taken down the next day.

Now?

“It almost seems like it starts right after Labor Day,” the Rev. Killgore says.

And it’s the length of the season, perhaps, not the season itself that can get tiring.

“It’s overwhelming for people,” says Vicky Myers, a clinical social worker and the clinical coordinator of children and youth services with the Family Guidance Center.

Depression can increase this time of year, she says, as can the anxiety involved with more shopping, more spending and more eating, not to mention more family.

But the Grinch in you doesn’t have to win, never mind that your neighbor started flashing Christmas lights when the Halloween ones went down.

First, take time to assess, Ms. Myers suggests. Christmas comes every year, even if it is earlier and earlier, so you should pretty much know what to expect. That can help you handle some of the problems that arrive each season, too.

“I also suggest that people make it as simple as possible,” she says.

Often, we respond to our own and other people’s expectations without realizing they even exist. Every day of the season doesn’t have to be like a Norman Rockwell, she says, so relax.

And refocus.

For many churchgoers, the season began this weekend with advent. Still, that’s no excuse to get caught up, the Rev. Killgore says. Choose not to get burned out.

No one is forcing you to buy or travel or eat.

“Don’t get into the season assuming you have to do everything,” he says.

And that includes shopping, shopping, shopping.

Keep a budget, Ms. Myers says.

Or maybe even do something totally different this year. BuynothingChristmas.org was originally started by Canadian Mennonites but has grown in popularity. The Web site offers ideas for how to celebrate the season without spending. They even have a catalog with things you can’t buy, but rather things you can do, such as hug a kid or play in the snow.

Remember snow angels? Hot cocoa? Curling up for a good Christmas classic like “It’s a Wonderful Life?” What about seeing the lights on the Plaza, singing Christmas carols, making homemade ornaments and visiting loved ones.

That’s all free.

And so is remembering why we even have Christmas.

Make worship a part things, the Rev. Killgore says, “because that’s what it’s all about.”