My Christmas Day Plan

1. Wake up. Try to keep myself calm and wait for an appropriate time to get out of bed. Note: I am not 7 anymore, 5am is not an appropriate time. At least wait for Seeg to wake up. But if he takes too long then it just can't be helped.

2. Grow impatient waiting for Seeg and either drop a present on his face, or pretend to kick him in my sleep. Proceed to give and open presents with eachother because I cannot possibly last much longer.

3. Get up! Try to keep voice down so as not to squeal so loudly in excitement that I deafen not only the house but myself in the process.

4. Go through normal morning routine, but miss out the scrutinizing stare in the mirror. I don't want to be negative on Christmas Day!

5. Give parents their gifts - but not the super secret special one for Dad.

6. Make a cake from a box mix because it both tastes better than mine, and because it actually comes out of the pan and cooks right through without burning the top. Slather it in chocolate. Eat some of that chocolate. Put more chocolate back on it to cover up the "bald" areas.

7. Clean up the mess and make the party food, which for some reason is almost always Chinese food of some sort. Retrieve the chocolate tree and display it proudly before chowing down on party food.

8. Open the door and hopefully only greet sister and her son. Surprise visitors will not be warmly received. Happily share the chocolate tree, and reluctantly share the party food.

9. Give them gifts and quietly sit with a smug grin as Riley screams in protest while opening the clothes my grandparents got him because, for some reason, old people think kids like that as a gift.

10. Get back to a nice, quiet afternoon, though by this point it feels like most of the gifts are done with, which kind of makes me sad and wander around aimlessly for the next few hours. Perhaps watch a movie with Seeg.

11. Help dad make dinner, and probably get more presents, most likely the ones my grandparents left. He probably won't let me help, so at least by asking I won't feel bad while I sit down and surely stuff myself with chocolate at the worst possible time.

12. Try to make room, curse myself for eating so much delicious Christmas chocolate, and eat dinner. And then dessert. Which is Devil's Food Chocolate Cake.

13. If I have not popped yet, it has been a successful day.

14. Retreat for a last few quiet hours of Christmas. Wait for Dad to come upstairs with our 3rd and actual last "last" gift, which, as previous years have proven, he surely will. If by 9pm he hasn't done so, we shall go downstairs and give him his xbox which we "forgot about", then eventually try to go back upstairs to let him use it, rather than us setting it all up for him and probably playing on it while he sits to one side, watching sullenly.

15. Try not to cry because the Christmas Day I've waited all year for has finally finished. I may well feel down, but fortunately my awesome boyfriend's awesome birthday is 3 days later. Turn all attention to that.

16. Sleep restlessly.