Once again the busiest month of the year demands more of our free time than any other holiday. Given its significance to our family, that’s not entirely unjustified, but we struggle just the same to strike a balance between Christmas activities, usual mandatory chores, everyday downtime, and time-sensitive fun options that have the misfortune of being scheduled in December. I’m usually plagued by to-do lists year-round as it is, but Christmastime never fails to send me into sudden-death double overtime to accomplish all the requirements and expected acts of cheer.

(I’m sure my wife’s to-do list is twice as long as mine, but she’ll be fine because she’s more magical than Santa.)

I’m shockingly ahead of schedule this year. My scorecard so far:

COMPLETED TASKS:

* Put up Christmas tree and indoor decorations. I refuse to retrieve our Christmas decorations from our attic until after Thanksgiving is over. That’s partly because I believe in celebrating a maximum of one (1) holiday at a time. That’s also partly because I hate going up in the attic. It’s cramped and uncomfortable and the door is hard to access and there are harmful pointy nails everywhere. I call it “the Danger Room”. But it has to be done within a week of Thanksgiving or else I suffer my wife’s adorable Christmas-loving wrath. The enclosed photo evidence confirms Christmas tree is go; we have themed wreaths and other Christmas knickknacks in place; and Christmas dinnerware is now in effect for extra credit.

* Buy presents. I do a little of this on Black Friday, most of it online over the same weekend, and the rest by taking a random December day off work and running around stores all day long for imaginative additions to the list. Y’know that hoary cliché about men waiting to begin their Christmas shopping till an hour before the stores close on Christmas Eve? That doesn’t quite apply to me. Show of hands: any males out there who like paying Amazon extra for overnight delivery fees? Not this guy.

* Sign Christmas cards. My wife made me do this tonight, several days later than she’d hoped. She was threatening to forge my signature if I didn’t. Far be it from me to permit this household to endorse the spirit of Christmas fraud.

* Charity activities. Beyond simple donations, so far I’ve attended one Christmas charity fundraiser, bought gifts for an adopt-a-family project, and gone Christmas caroling at the home of a friend’s terminally ill relative. I’m open to doing more.

TASKS IN PROGRESS:

* Watch more Christmas programming. This one is partially in progress, only because I cued up A Charlie Brown Christmas and Frosty the Snowman as background entertainment during the Christmas tree process. I’d like to slip in at least one showing of Elf, which has been growing on me the past several years, but it’ll be tough to allot the requisite time. (This enthusiasm was once reserved for A Christmas Story, but…well, after watching it again and again and again and again and again and so on, decades of repetition are finally taking a toll on its luster. I expect to catch a few minutes of the annual TBS marathon, but not much more than that. Don’t tell my online friends, who know of my longtime obsession with the film and will take this as evidence that I’ve been killed and replaced with a Body Snatcher, Cylon, or Dire Wraith.)

* Stocking stuffers. It’s just this little thing we like to do. I usually procrastinate these till the week before, but I got a head start this year. Chalk it up to more surprise opportunities for appropriate little things than usual, not a newfound cruel desire to give my loved ones stale, months-old candy.

* Dabble in Christmas-themed blog entries. This makes three. I have at least one more in mind. I could go all-Christmas all month long if I tried, but I’d risk burnout before the Big Day. Moderation is key.

TASKS REMAINING:

* Put up outdoor Christmas decorations. Every time the weather has been nice, I’ve been swamped with other things to do. When I’ve had the free time, the weather was muddy and chilly and discouraging. This weekend or bust, come what may.

* Wrap presents. This is the activity I postpone until Christmas Eve around 10 p.m. I’m not terrible at it, but it’s the one Christmas chore that never excites me. To me, packaging things is just not fun.

* Coordinate and finalize Christmas family gatherings itinerary. Some of our relatives overplan ahead, possibly months in advance. I don’t get them, but I appreciate their commitment level and mad organizational skills. Others wait until forty minutes after the eleventh hour. We try to keep our December weekends and the two Big Days as wide open as possible to accommodate. As of this writing, two of our annual gatherings remain in unconfirmed limbo. ANY DAY NOW, GUYS.

* Buy gift for white-elephant exchange announced at last minute. I wonder what interesting doodads I could acquire for one of these fun group activities if we ever officially agreed to this before my primary shopping was completed. Now it’s an extra trip to add to our errand-running.

* The Hobbit. Every year, there’s always one big holiday release that we can’t see on opening week because of bad timing. Sure enough, the blockbustery-est of them all will have to wait till at least next weekend. I understand and accept that it’s all part of the Christmas game. It helps that I’ve read the book and have no need to fear spoilers.

* Five other vital Christmas objectives I’m probably forgetting. My wife will let me know.

And what does your scorecard look like? Nearly done shopping? Still formulating your gameplan? Hoping Best Buy will mark everything down just a teensy bit lower on that final weekend? Struggling this year and in need of intensive prayers? Eschewing the season and dwelling in the House of Humbug? How are YOU, the Viewers at Home, doing this somewhat fine month?

Related reading:
— The Songs That Sour My Christmas Spirit
— Wallflower Agrees to Disagree with Company Holiday Party