Reality Check

Sure, you love the holiday season--but just not so much of it! This year, it's time to simplify your holidays and celebrate the season.

Question is, just how do you do less--and enjoy it more--during the Christmas holiday season?

If you're aiming to simplify Christmas, take time to ponder ways to cut stress, save money and tame over-the-top traditions. Setting simplicity strategies in place now will keep you from being swept up in next month's holiday madness.

Get armed! Try these ten simple strategies to calm holiday chaos and rein in the seasonal overkill this year:

We don't know where we get it, we don't know where it comes from, but lots of us will stumble over this holiday illusion: "There is one right way to celebrate the holiday season!"

This one's sneaky. It comes to us through images, songs and Christmas cards. It rears up between newly married couples, as they try to blend his way and her way and make their own way in the face of competing in-laws.

They're heeerre! Surrounding supermarket check stands, elbowing aside Mad and House Beautiful at the bookstore, popping up in fabric stores--even lurking quietly in your mailbox.

Christmas magazines! Now, don't get me wrong. I love Christmas magazines. I buy Christmas magazines. I even read Christmas magazines! As a source for recipes, ideas, decorating schemes, gifts, crafts and all-round Christmas cheer, there's nothing like a good Christmas magazine. Don't even think of trying to pry my collection of Better Homes and Gardens' "Holiday Cookies" out of my clutches!

There's only one problem: Christmas magazines suffer from split personality--and it's contagious. Reading Christmas magazines without a quick injection of reality, skepticism and just plain Scroogishness can be hazardous to your holiday health and well-being.

"Oh, to have a perfect Christmas!"

This potent illusion grabs us by the throat sometime in September. It lifts only on the afternoon of December 25, in concert with the 3 p.m. Christmas post-gift letdown.

It's a fancy subscribed to by many well-meaning holiday planners. It sells one heck of a lot of Christmas magazines. To my dismay, it may even have motivated you to join this Countdown!

The culprit? The Ghost of Christmas Perfection. This siren song sings as follows: "It is possible to organize a completely stress-free, hassle-free, calm, serene and spiritual holiday season!"

In a word, nuts. This Web site notwithstanding. Paying heed to the idea of a "perfect Christmas" will clog your planning and cloud your joy--and it's just not possible.