I complain a lot about the holidays. There’s so much to do and never enough time to get it done, but when all is said and done, I love the time that I get to spend with my family during the holiday season.

When I was a child, the holidays were more simple. We didn’t have to juggle numerous Christmas get-togethers or worry about finding the time to shop, wrap, cook and clean up in a limited amount of time. This year, I’ve complained about all of that. The second of my three Christmases will be tonight. I still don’t have all of my shopping done and on Christmas Day, I will be cooking dinner for 15 people, cleaning up and trying to find a way to get to bed early so I can come back to work refreshed on Friday.

When I was younger, all we worried about was how much time had to pass before Santa Claus would come and if we had been good enough to get extra presents.

The holidays might be more complicated now, but I think I enjoy them even more than I did when I was younger. Now I have a little more to worry about and a lot more to try to get done, but I also get to enjoy all of my crazy relatives at once. Something that occurred so often that I didn’t notice it when I was a kid. Something fun always happens when the family gets together.