Countdown to Christmas
So how long until Christmas actually gets here?
Watching December 25th get closer, one second at a time (because apparently my kids need exact numbers)
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Christmas
December 25, 2026
Why I Built This Christmas Countdown
My daughter Emma started asking in September. September! "Dad how many days till Christmas" became her favorite question and honestly I got sick of googling it on my phone every single morning while making her cereal so I just made this thing β now she checks it herself and leaves me alone until at least 7am (small victories).
December 25th though. Still hits different even at 38 years old. Not even about the gifts anymore β okay that's a lie the gifts are great β but really it's the only day my brother-in-law Steve isn't checking his work email every five minutes and we can actually have a conversation.
Christmas Planning Timeline
Spent three years doing the panicked December 23rd Target run. Finally learned my lesson after the year we had to wrap everything at 2am on Christmas Eve while watching Guy Fieri reruns (long story). This is what actually works now.
- 1
6 Weeks Out β Start Your Gift List
That LEGO set your kid wants? Already sold out at the Target on Route 9. Ask me how I know. Amazon's your best bet but even they run out of the good stuff by mid-December so get moving.
- 2
4 Weeks Out β Cards & Custom Orders
Look I haven't sent physical Christmas cards since 2018 but if that's your thing do it now. Also anything custom or engraved β those Etsy sellers are swamped by December 1st and will straight up tell you no.
- 3
2 Weeks Out β Decorations & Wrapping
Tree goes up December 10th at our place because my wife insists (I'd do it December 20th but I lost that argument years ago). Grab canned goods, crackers, whatever doesn't spoil. And seriously start wrapping gifts now because wrapping 47 presents on Christmas Eve while your spouse gives you the death stare is not fun.
- 4
3 Days Before β Final Prep
Hit Trader Joe's for fresh stuff. I make lasagna on the 23rd because it reheats perfectly and means one less thing to stress about on Christmas Day. Also vacuum before your in-laws show up judging your baseboards.
Gift Ideas That Actually Work
My uncle Jerry once gave me a singing fish. A SINGING FISH. It's been 12 years and I still haven't forgiven him β anyway after giving and getting a mountain of terrible gifts I've figured out what actually lands.
For Kids
LEGO. Always LEGO (the big sets though not those tiny ones that take 6 minutes to build). Board games we can play together work great too. And listen β if you give a 5-year-old a drum set or one of those screaming monkey toys just know their parents will remember and they will get revenge on YOUR kids someday.
For Adults
One expensive candle beats ten cheap ones. My neighbor Dave got me this fancy coffee from a local roaster in Portland and I think about that gift every morning when I'm half-awake making breakfast. Also? Gift cards. People say they're impersonal but honestly I'd rather pick my own stuff at REI than get another decorative bowl I'll never use.
Experience Gifts
My wife gave me Foo Fighters tickets for Christmas 2022. Still one of the best nights of my life (don't tell her I said that it'll go to her head). Escape rooms are fun if your family doesn't fight, cooking classes are great, even a nice dinner reservation works β I'm at the age where I'd rather DO something cool than own more stuff that clutters my garage.
Budget-Friendly
My sister bakes these insane snickerdoodles and gives them out every year in those fancy tins from HomeGoods β people lose their minds over them way more than any $50 Amazon purchase. Or write someone a real letter? Like with a pen? Telling them why they matter to you? Sounds cheesy but my mom kept every letter I ever wrote her and I found them after she passed and man... that hit hard.
What Kids Actually Remember About Christmas
So last week I asked Emma and Jake what their favorite Christmas memories were (fully expecting them to say "that time we got the Nintendo Switch"). Their actual answers? Kinda made me rethink this whole holiday stress thing.
"Remember when the power went out and we played board games by candlelight? That was the best Christmas ever."β Emma, age 9, about Christmas 2023 when a transformer blew
"I don't really remember what toys I got. But I remember dad burning the pancakes on Christmas morning and everyone laughing."β Jake, age 11, absolutely roasting me
Not ONCE did they mention the $200 gift I spent three weeks hunting down on eBay. What they remember? Burnt pancakes. The blackout. When grandma tried singing Jingle Bells but forgot half the words. That snowball fight where I slipped on ice and face-planted while they laughed for like 10 straight minutes β honestly they bring that up at least once a month and it happened two years ago. All the imperfect chaotic stuff. The moments where things went slightly wrong and we just rolled with it. Made me realize I've been stressing about the wrong things this whole time. Perfect Christmas? Doesn't exist. And that's actually what makes it memorable.
Christmas Facts
The Tree Tradition
So apparently Queen Victoria made Christmas trees trendy in the 1840s β before that people thought dragging a pine tree into your living room was genuinely weird behavior. Now we all do it every year and pretend it makes sense (why DO we do this? honestly no idea but it smells good).
Santa's Origins
Santa's based on this 4th-century bishop named Nicholas who was apparently really into sneaking gifts to people. The modern version with the red suit existed way before Coca-Cola but yeah they definitely turned him into the version we all recognize now with those 1930s ads.
Global Celebration
Christmas is a public holiday in over 160 countries but everybody does it completely differently β Japan has this whole KFC tradition (seriously it's huge there), Australians are having beach barbecues while we're shoveling snow, and in Iceland there's apparently 13 different Santa-type figures? Wild.
My Christmas Movie Hot Takes
Okay real talk β most "classic" Christmas movies are only classics because you watched them when you were 7 and nostalgia is doing heavy lifting. I've been forced to watch basically every single one with my kids (some like 15 times) and I have THOUGHTS. About to make some enemies here but whatever.
Die Hard
IT'S A CHRISTMAS MOVIE AND I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL. Takes place at a Christmas party. Christmas music playing. John McClane trying to get back with his wife which is peak holiday spirit. Also explosions. What more do you want? My wife rolls her eyes every time I say this but she's wrong.
Home Alone
Still good! Kevin's traps are legitimately creative (though definitely would cause permanent injury in real life), Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern are hilarious, and that scene where he reunites with his mom at the end? Hits completely different now that I'm a dad and the thought of losing my kid at an airport makes me want to cry. Home Alone 2 is also solid. After that they should've stopped. They did not stop.
Elf
Will Ferrell is giving 110% and the movie is genuinely sweet but like... there's not much actual plot? Buddy goes to New York, acts weird, finds his dad, saves Christmas with singing. That's it. My kids watch it every year though so clearly I'm missing something. Maybe I'm just dead inside (very possible).
Love Actually
GO AHEAD. COME AT ME. This movie is like eight rom-coms that aren't quite good enough to be their own movies so they stitched them together and added "All You Need Is Love" to distract you from the fact that half these storylines are lowkey creepy when you actually think about them. My wife loves it. We watch it every year. I spend the entire runtime pointing out plot holes while she threatens divorce. But I stand by my position β give me Die Hard any day.