There are those of us (the pushovers, the hyperresponsible?) who "do" the holidays for everyone else. Frantic good sports, we buy, wrap, bake, and entertain, though we have jobs and families too. Yes, we are adults, acting of our own free will. We could refrain from hosting the neighborhood party, baking five dozen cookies when one dozen was plenty, taking and sending photos of our children to relatives who just saw them at Thanksgiving. But Christmas, for me, crescendos like a spectacular movie train wreck with dramatic sound effects and soupy music: People, food, and presents collide, leaving wrapping paper, dishes, toys, candles, ornaments, aftershave, and dazed children behind. Come the New Year, we survivors pull ourselves up, brush ourselves off, look around, and ask, What the... More >>>