This time of year, it's best to lean into the craziness: Ervolino

I woke up at about 7 a.m. on Christmas Eve, lumbered over to my cluttered “coffee station” and stared, incredulously, at the 90 bulging gift bags plopped around my living room fireplace.

OK, so maybe there weren’t 90. But there were still too many.

The week before, I had spent somewhere around $150 at Trader Joe’s buying cookies and nuts and caramel corn and jars of red pepper spreads so I could make a few little gift bags filled with a few little goodies for all the people I promised NOT to exchange gifts with.

Then, on the day before Christmas Eve, I went to CVS to get gift bags and gift cards and a few other odds and ends that barely weighed 3 pounds.

When the kid at the register said my total came to $353, my heart started pounding. Granted, $250 of that $353 included gift cards for the three youngsters (including my new great-nephew) who were expecting gifts from me. But still …

Then, I ran back to the liquor store, where I spent a mere $94 — because I had spent $80 there four days before.

Eventually, I came home and began dividing everything up to put into the glittery gift bags for the people I was not exchanging gifts with.

Four little things in this bag. Five little things in that bag …

(Conclusion: Exchanging gifts is easier than not exchanging them.)

At 1 p.m. my cousin Chris and his wife, Katie, stopped by unexpectedly with a ham.

“Merry Christmas!”

I had just finished dividing up my goodies, dropping them into bags and tagging them. I couldn’t very well give them someone else’s bag, so I said, “Oh! Let me get yours …” and fled to the kitchen, where I ransacked my cabinets and returned, minutes later, with a gift bag filled with an old dented box of Triscuits, a bottle of canola oil and a package of ant traps.

“Mmm,” Katie said. “I love Triscuits!”

“And those are the GOOD ant traps,” I said. “I’ve been giving them to everyone this year.”

I’ve been doing nothing of the sort, but what else could I say?

Other friends who told me they were stopping by on Saturday morning wound up arriving after 4 p.m., which is so considerate when you have a million things to do and are waiting for them to do what they said they were going to do.

I went to my brother’s house on Christmas Eve for his big shindig, saw friends on Christmas Day and spent Tuesday recharging for the rest of the week, which was booked up with lunches and dinners and get-togethers with friends I hardly ever get to see anymore.

Almost everyone I know seems to take pleasure in complaining about the holidays.

“They’re not as much fun as they used to be!”

“Everything is so expensive!”

“All this running around for what? I can’t wait ‘til it’s all over …”

Most of them say “it” in reference to the entire holiday season, which, depending on what you do and don’t celebrate, can start in early December and last for weeks.

I know I could cut back on all of this, remind people that I’m not as young as I used to be and curtail some of this craziness.

In order to cut back on the last-minute insanity, I try to get as much done as I can, ASAP. But there’s always plenty of last-minute craziness anyway.

And guess what? I actually enjoy it.

The early craziness, the last-minute craziness …

I really think craziness is my milieu.

And I think most people feel the same way, even if they’re loath to admit it.

ME: “It’s the best time of the year. A time for traditions. For being with loved ones. For giving. For sharing. For celebrating life and all the things that are important and fun!”

THEM: “Yeah, but …”

ME: “No buts! Think about what we have to look forward to. Nothing in January. Nothing in February. Nothing in March. Cold, wet, boring, dark, miserable …”

THEM: “Yeah, but …”

ME: “No buts! Stop whining, ’Oh, poor me!’ ‘I don’t like the holidays anymore!’ ‘They’re boring!’ ‘They’re exhausting!’ Wah-wah-wah! Get over it! This is the happiest time of the year! Force yourself to get out, be with people and enjoy yourself! There’s nothing worse than looking forward to a holiday and having other people dump all over it!”

THEM: “Maybe you’re right. Actually, I do like getting dressed up and going out on New Year's Eve. That’s always been a special night for me.”

ME: “New Year's Eve! Yucch! How can you possibly like New Year's Eve? It’s the most ridiculous excuse for a holiday there is. Everyone gets dressed up and drinks too much and sits around waiting for midnight as if something wonderful is going to happen!”

THEM: “Yeah, but …”

ME: “No buts!”

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Embrace the craziness of the holiday season and find joy: Ervolino