I don't know about you, but for my family and I, summer seems to be flying by. It seems like just yesterday Lauren finished her first year of college, Emma graduated first grade and Charlie survived her first year of pre-school. Now, whether we like it or not, Back to School promotions have begun bombarding us. "I've never once seen so much emphasis put on back-to-school before July 4," said National Retail Federation spokeswoman Kathy Grannis. It seems that reailers are trying to get a jump on people's spending. According to a recent Ad Age article, back-to-school spending accounts for $84 billion in sales, making it the second-biggest season for retailers. While that is a far cry from the Christmas holidays' $580 billion take, it handily exceeds Mother's Day, which is the next-biggest holiday-shopping period, with $21 billion in consumer spending.

Thankfully, not all retailers are pushing up their plans. Ad Age reports Staples will begin setting up back-to-school displays in early July. Marketing for Target and JC Penney won't get under way until later in the month. And a message on Amazon's back-to-school landing page takes a humorous approach: "Shopping for back-to-school supplies already? We hate to tell you … you're early." The page instructs shoppers to come back later in July. I can only imagine when we'll begin to see the first Halloween promotions.

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