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:

  1. Condensed or Evaporated? Make sure you’ve got the right ingredients for that 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 missing something, get to the store before dusk, since IGA and most other stores will close at 6:00 p.m.
  2. Let Mom Enjoy Christmas Morning, Too. Plan a simple breakfast of pastries, fresh fruit and juices, served on festive disposable plates and in decorative cups. No cooking; no dishes.
  3. Poised for Pictures. Check your supply of batteries and film. Charge the camcorder battery; make sure you have plenty of videotape. Speaking of videos, take a few minutes now to set your VCR to record several favorite holiday shows airing between now and the 24th. You can enjoy them Christmas night and throughout the rest of the holiday break, when things have wound down a bit.
  4. Gather Your Packages. If you’re heading to more than one party, separate gifts 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 quick save in case someone you’ve forgotten remembers you.
  5. Ready to Roll. Planning to travel? Fill up the gas tank; check oil and window washer fluid levels. Put an emergency kit in the trunk: blankets, flashlights, a spare tire, etc. Pack some snacks, too. “You just don’t know,” says Ronica Stromberg of Mission, Kansas. “If you do have any car problems, you want to have something to stay warm and feed the kids.”
  6. To help time pass on the way to Grandma’s, surprise children with a fun-pack to explore, stuffed with coloring books, hand-held games or dolls.
  7. Give Santa a Break. Want to avoid wrangling with bike parts at 2 a.m.? “We always put the boxes under the tree, then assemble gifts as a family,” says Missouri dad Roger Young. His twins, Mark and Mary, enjoy watching presents take shape on Christmas morning.
  8. “We’re a lot more appreciative of the gifts, since we help put them together,” says Mary.
  9. Sweet Dreams. You’ve been waiting weeks to see your child’s reaction to that perfect gift. Get a good night’s sleep, or you’ll snooze through the “oohs”.
  10. Finish your baking as early as possible on Christmas Eve; wrap the last package before nightfall. Ease kids into bed at their regular time, reading the original Christmas story from the Bible (Luke 2:1-20) or sharing happy holiday memories from your own childhood.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night.