Christmas Eve Checklist
By Cheryl Gochnauer
Are you ready for Christmas? It's time to make our list and check it twice,so we don't forget anything:
Condensed or Evaporated? Make sure you've got the right ingredients forthat special holiday baked treat. Dick Carnal, an IGA Super Center manager,notes Christmas Eve is one of the year's busiest grocery shopping days."Everybody seems to wait until the last minute." If you're missingsomething, get to the store before dusk, since IGA and most other storeswill close at 6:00 p.m.
Let Mom Enjoy Christmas Morning, Too. Plan a simple breakfast of pastries,fresh fruit and juices, served on festive disposable plates and indecorative cups. No cooking; no dishes.
Poised for Pictures. Check your supply of batteries and film. Charge thecamcorder battery; make sure you have plenty of videotape. Speaking ofvideos, take a few minutes now to set your VCR to record several favoriteholiday shows airing between now and the 24th. You can enjoy them Christmasnight and throughout the rest of the holiday break, when things have wounddown a bit.
Gather Your Packages. If you're heading to more than one party, separategifts for each place into colorful oversized shopping bags for easy toting.Take along an extra wrapped gift, like a Christmas book or CD, for a quicksave in case someone you've forgotten remembers you.
Ready to Roll. Planning to travel? Fill up the gas tank; check oil andwindow washer fluid levels. Put an emergency kit in the trunk: blankets,flashlights, a spare tire, etc. Pack some snacks, too. "You just don'tknow," says Ronica Stromberg of Mission, Kansas. "If you do have any carproblems, you want to have something to stay warm and feed the kids."
To help time pass on the way to Grandma's, surprise children with a fun-packto explore, stuffed with coloring books, hand-held games or dolls.
Give Santa a Break. Want to avoid wrangling with bike parts at 2 a.m.? "Wealways put the boxes under the tree, then assemble gifts as a family," saysMissouri dad Roger Young. His twins, Mark and Mary, enjoy watching presentstake shape on Christmas morning.
"We're a lot more appreciative of the gifts, since we help put themtogether," says Mary.
Sweet Dreams. You've been waiting weeks to see your child's reaction tothat perfect gift. Get a good night's sleep, or you'll snooze through the"oohs".
Finish your baking as early as possible on Christmas Eve; wrap the lastpackage before nightfall. Ease kids into bed at their regular time, readingthe original Christmas story from the Bible (Luke 2:1-20) or sharing happyholiday memories from your own childhood.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night.
(Comments? Write
cheryl@homebodies.org
or visit her website at
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, where you can interact with lots of friendlyHo-Ho-Homebuddies on the various message boards:
http://forums.gospelcom.net/view/homebodies
. Copyright 2001 Homebodies.Org. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.comLLC.)
