How things will play out at my home the next few days
By Kelly Hockenberry, Columnist, The Times
Christmas Eve is four days away! Are you ready? I know,neither am I. (And for all of you who answered in the affirmative, well….aren’t you a candidate for Santa’s team. Bah humbug.) Therefore, in order to quell the rising panic within me, I have devised a handydandy checklist of things to accomplish between now and December 24th:
SUNDAY: go for a horsedrawn carriage ride in Kennett today (12pm 3pm). Our little town is SO cute during the holidays! Don’t miss it! While there, pick up last minute gifts from my favorite State Street shops and a vanilla cafe au lait from Philter. Wrap gifts in the evening while watching Elf in front of a cozy fire. HA! This part will never happen…but it sounds really lovely, doesn’t it? I have NEVER managed to wrap presents in advance of 11pm on December 24th, but maybe this is my year? I’ll keep you posted.
MONDAY: Drink 32 ounces of coffee. Tidy the house to get ready for visits from friends and family. For the Hockenberry’s, this means a spotless main living floor and absolute chaos upstairs. I am not a miracle worker, people.
Determine the menu for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and make a list of necessary ingredients. Bake cookies (or, be lucky enough to find a cookie exchange and cut your work time in half). Let’s be clear, by “baking cookies” I mean doctoring up a slice-n-bake if you have to. The secret is dipping in melted chocolate and sprinkling some crushed peppermint on top…looks like a million bucks and nobody’s the wiser.
Sssssshhhhhhh.
TUESDAY: Go to Longwood to see the lights. It wouldn’t be Christmas without shelling out $100 dollars to soak in the beauty of that magical place. It makes me feel a tiny bit guilty for the lightless display in my own front yard around the holidays.
WEDNESDAY: Finalize holiday outfits. Determine any last minute accessories (for me this list could be infinite…for the men in my life, not so much). While I would love to have them wear festive, plaid pajamas on Christmas morning, I have abandoned that dream in order to preserve my energy for the fight with my children about why they cannot wear basketball shorts and a hoodie to church. Wash, iron, and lay out said “approved” outfit on Wednesday night to avoid the inevitable, last-minute wardrobe mishaps.
THURSDAY: Line up the luminaries in front of the house for the neighborhood display. After going to church, it is wonderful to walk around the development when it is glowing with candlelight. We come home and I force our boys to listen to the same books we read to them when they were little guys waiting for Santa. No matter how old they get, this ritual will remain the same.
If I have not accomplished my wrapping (which, let’s be real…the fact that I said that would happen Sunday night is HILARIOUS) I will be frantically slapping tape on gifts until I’m bleary-eyed. But, tradition is tradition for a reason, right? Climb into bed at a ridiculous hour and relish the fact that with teenagers, no one will be breathless beside the bed at 4:45am ready to go downstairs. Dream of sugarplums.
Enjoy the next four days of scrambling to get ready. Devise your own list of tasks to make life easier. I hope that you all have a very Merry Christmas filled with love and togetherness!
