Every year in households with children a clamor goes up around Nov. 30th, or Dec. 1st or 2nd.

“Can we open it?!  Can we?!  I should be first–  No, it’s my turn!”

Parents dig out the advent calenders and begin the countdown from 1 to 25.  For them the time will fly . . . the To Do list was always impossibly long, work is popping, and if the kids’ prayers for snow get a favorable answer, weary parents will add shoveling the walk and de-icing the step to the list.

Kids can watch the time creep by.  Measured in the moments they sit at their desk, they can hold up a pencil to the face of the clock and see time stand still.  The ritual of marking another day on the calender is strictly observed, yet the hours between the days drag to infinity and beyond.  Christmas will never come.

Here’s to your holiday countdown.  May your energy and your kids last the month through.