We did it! Time to look ahead to holidays' end.

Today, we hang a wreath on the door to open the season. At month's end, a post-holiday debriefing will set the stage for an organized Christmas in 2008!

today's message ...

We did it!

For the past six weeks, we've been preparing for Christmas together. We've assembled a Christmas holiday planner, corralled gifts and giving, and caught up in the kitchen. Each day, we've pondered new innovations and old traditions, moving ever closer to our goal: a serene, joyous holiday season.

This is not to say that we're all ready! I'd venture that 98% of us still have more to do. Not only is this no surprise, but it's normal. That's why the Countdown ends where it does. There's still time to complete holiday preparation, and nearly all of us will need it.

At the same time, look how far we've come! If you've been trying, you should be well ahead of the Christmas game. Better, the notes, forms and records you've assembled will be next year's road map to an even easier season.

Christmas. For many of us, our picture of this holiday is a static one: we've "always" done this or we "always" do that. Indeed, that idea of tradition and stability and connection is one of the true themes of the holiday. I make Aunt Bill's Brown Candy or Mim's Texas Pralines because my mother did, my grandmother did, my great-grandmother did.

Celebrating that connection is wonderful, but don't let it blind you to the very real fact that Christmas also changes. If I compare our current Christmas celebrations to my childhood holidays, I find that today's rejoicing is longer, faster, more intense and more expensive. Not better or worse, but different.

This is, I humbly submit, as it should be. Children grow. Families change. On growing older, many of us explore new spiritual depths, finding meaning in different places.

And, yes, it means that while I treasure my copy of a candy recipe that is written in my great-grandmother's hand, I also know that modern cooks needed the transliteration I provided a few years ago. Where Granny Hawk measured sugar in pounds, I measure in cups. Where grandmother Mim cooked her pralines over the stove, mine get made in the microwave.

Will your family celebrate the new year with a party?

It's an occasion that can fluster the most experienced hostess--and if you're new to the art form, you can experience a royal case of the jitters. We've got some printable forms that will get you started, but throwing a party is a learning experience.

That's why I want to tell you about my birthday party a couple of years ago. It was a surprise, cooked up by my sweet but not domestic husband.

A few days before, we'd been talking, idly, about birthdays. I realized aloud that I'd not had a birthday party since I was 15, not to mention a birthday cake. Over the years, I'd become the party giver, not the guest of honor.

Doctor Steve decided to fix things. First, he did something smart: he went to see Joyce, our area's premier party diva. She advised him to have a little dessert party. A cake, some cheese, keep it simple, she said.

I'm not sure she realized how literally he would take her words.

Adding Santa's bounty to overstuffed kids' rooms is a recipe for January clutter disaster. Clear the decks and cut kid clutter with a pre-holiday toy clear-out.

to do today ... toy declutter!

Too many toys! About this time of year, it's a good idea to contemplate the toy situation in your child's room.

It's a fact of modern life. Children's playthings have exploded in number, size, and complexity, while children's storage options have remained static. Just try storing a Happy Meal collection in the average toy box! Even the best-organized kid's rooms can easily drown in today's toy avalanche.

And nowhere is the clutter more apparent than at Christmas. Time for a sneaky/secret/flat-out toy reduction.

Today's guest editor, Cub Reporter Perry Bear, takes on a ticklish parenting dilemma. How do you teach children to give during a holiday focused on receiving?

today's message ...

Dear Countdown friends:

It's me, Perry Bear Ewer. I'm Miss Cynthia's teddy bear; you may also know me from my Web site for kids, Perry Bear's Fun Page

It can be very hard for children to think about others during the holiday season. Everywhere they go, people ask, "And what do you want for Christmas?"
We have to help children learn to give, not just receive. Miss Cynthia has some ideas in the essay below.

Last night, good Dr. Steve and I participated in one of our favorite holiday traditions: watching the wonderful Christmas video, A Christmas Story. As we laughed along with Ralphie and his friends, we made the same comments we make every year.

"That kid looks just like my Dad, when he was little!" said Dr. Steve. "Mommy's little piggy!" sang CEO in sync with Ralphie's mom. Just as we have for the last eight years, we turned to one another at the end and said, "That is the best Christmas movie ever made!"

Earlier in our marriage? Meshing two sets of holiday traditions wasn't as simple as watching A Christmas Story. From our respective expectations to my children to his parents, we careened back and forth between traditions during the holidays, trying to please everyone.

We're in the home stretch! It's Celebrate! Week at the Christmas Countdown, a time to tidy up our preparations and shift gears into full holiday mode.

Take stock today! Find and tie up those loose ends. This week, we'll complete and mail Christmas cards, finalize gift-buying and gift-making, and plan any holiday parties. We'll finish holiday decorating, inside and out. We'll focus on family, bringing all family members into the holiday preparations. We'll consider the children, and find ways to teach about giving, not just about getting.

Most of all, we'll rejoice. While the holiday season means many things to many families, for all, it's a season of joy and celebration.

You're ready ... for Celebrate! Week. Merry Christmas!

to do this week ...

Celebrate! Week Assignments

to do today ...

Write and address final one-fifth of Christmas Card List this week. Mail all cards by December 10.

Complete the final one-fourth of Gifts To Make this week. If the gifts have not been completed, put them away for next year. Add any needed replacements to the Master Gift List.

Purchase gifts for the final one-fifth of the Master Gift List, together with any gift substitutes for uncompleted "to make" gifts. Wrap gifts as they are purchased.

Keep a running total of gift expenditures and watch the budget!

Buy fresh trees, wreaths and garlands.

to read today ...

Mom, let go those holiday burdens. Families that work together, celebrate together:

Make Christmas A Family Affair

today's recipes ...

Don't forget Santa's reindeer ... or the naughty gag gifts they leave behind. These recipes for Magic Reindeer Food and Reindeer Poop include printable gift tags!

Magic Reindeer Food Recipe

Reindeer Poop Recipe

It's coming, it's really coming ... it's here? Oh, NO! The Saturday after Thanksgiving can be a time of flagging motivation. How is it that, despite cooking for three solid days, the leftovers give out less than 48 hours after the Thanksgiving feast?

In spite of all the preparations, no one feels really prepared for the Christmas season to come--and after the Thanksgiving holiday, it's no longer possible to avoid the obvious. Here it comes!

Who says holiday traditions have to be "sweet"? Thinking about Christmas trees, I can't help but laugh at my childhood memories.

An Episcopalian home, our family kept a good Advent. While we observed special Advent customs and decorations, no Christmas tree entered our home until December 24, the first day of the liturgical Christmas season. The tree then stayed up until Twelfth Night, and we'd make a little family party as we took it down on January 5th.

"Awwww!", I hear you say. Well, there was just one tiny little problem. Our family lived in hot, dry Las Vegas, Nevada. Buying a once-fresh tree on December 24 was a never-changing adventure.

We are thankful! Today, America gathers for family, feasting and football. It's the purest of our holidays: a day set aside to be grateful.

Gratitude is an attitude. Psychologists have proved that Pollyanna was right: counting your blessings creates a blessed heart. Those who are grateful weather life's minor storms more easily.

So be thankful, America! And our Canadian friends, and readers from throughout the world? You can be thankful, too--no assignments today on the Christmas Countdown!