The List - Things I Must Do At Christmas

In an effort to try to get myself into the spirit of the Christmas season and to remind myself what's really important to me about it, I started thinking about what things I must do for the holidays. Because, let's face it, it's all gotten a bit out of hand these days. There is so much expected of us; such a push to spend, spend, spend; and it's all so in-your-face. And if those of us who celebrate Christmas get tired of seeing it and hearing it every time we turn around, imagine what its like for those who don't.

In no particular order, here are the things I must do for Christmas:

1. Find time to get the five of us together to frost cookies and dip pretzel sticks. It's absolutely one of my favorite things to do.

2. Decorate my mantel and put out my creche. Honestly? I'm getting a little tired of the hassle of rearranging the furniture to put up the tree. I'm sure I will but it's not something I feel I need to do for me.

3. Get Christmas cards sent. I haven't left myself enough time to get them sent the past couple of years. I want people to know we're thinking of them.

4. Find a way to balance finding gifts people will really appreciate and stressing about buying them.

5. Drink some eggnog and watch A Christmas Carol.

6. Enjoy one of the free events the city offers throughout the season.

In a perfect world, there would be time for hand-crafted gifts, perfectly wrapped presents, hosting a holiday party, caroling as we deliver goodies to the neighbors. But this is not a perfect world; it's my world and I'm going to do the best I can to make the next month as stress free as possible.

What things must you do in December to make your holidays work for you?