It’s a few days before Christmas and the house is in shambles. Half the decorations are up, the other half are still in boxes waiting for some ambitious kids or some desperate parents to throw them on the tree. I thought I was getting ahead of things by making my cookie doughs a few weeks in advance.

I was thinking that would allow me to toss a batch in the oven in the evening, while I was cooking dinner or tidying up the kitchen. Now I just have a fridge full of cookie dough, and no room for all the leftover pizza and rotisserie chickens that have become the December dinner staples.

Let’s not even talk about all the shopping that I haven’t done yet, or the hours that I, and everyone else, will waste trying to get in and out of the stores at this time of year. I don’t have to tell most of you these things because you’re also living them. If you are that person who has all their Christmas shopping done by August, good for you.

And even better for your kids who have their minds made up and are committed to a Christmas list by that time. At approximately 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 19, A gave me his “really, truly, final, definitely, this is all I really want for Christmas list.”

And, at 8:33 p.m. on Dec. 19, he submitted his revisions.

It’s a good thing that Santa has to do this shopping and that he has hundreds of little elves to help out with this, because if I had to rely on Amazon Prime and expedited shipping costs to get this stuff here on time, or spend a vacation day running around to five different stores, well, let’s just say my stress levels would be through the roof.

So it’s a good thing we have Santa and I can worry about all the rest of the shopping for family members, planning menus, coordinating the mantel lights with the staircase garlands, and getting to all the Christmas pageants and concerts on time.

I know we’re not supposed to get hung up on all this stuff, and that there is a real reason for the season that all too often gets lost in the chaos. My heart got a little warmer this year when both of the boys enthusiastically volunteered to play solos in church before the Christmas Eve service.

G started playing the saxophone earlier this year, and A has been a trumpet maestro for several years now. They both love to practice. At the same time. Loudly. The nice thing about the piano is that only one of them can play at a time. There is also a limit to how loud the piano can get. Unfortunately, the horns are portable.

If your brother is playing his saxophone louder than you are, simply walk over and give him a blast in his ear with your trumpet. If your brother is playing his trumpet in the living room, you can always take your saxophone into the bathroom, regardless of who is trying to take a shower, and belt out a few measures of “Good King Wenceslas” just for fun.

You’d think that the humidity in the bathroom might help moisten the reed a little and cut back on the screechiness of an amateur sax player. You’d be wrong. But, the tile in the bathroom really does help amplify it!

All I want for Christmas is for the hairs on the back of my neck to finally lay down again.

My kids also really like to get into the spirit of things by wearing various hats/headbands/elf ears/reindeer horns. However, they don’t really like to take care of these things and put them in a safe place where they will remember them.

So, several times this past week, we’ve almost missed the bus because we couldn’t find our Santa hat. We’ve also gone out the door in a pout because we left our elf ears in Dad’s car and they won’t be home until after 5 p.m.

All this insanity does manage to make for some good memories, though. The kids’ picture with Santa features A and E in their Christmas best, and G wearing his basketball uniform, because he just managed to make it back to the Christmas party after his game. The fact that he’s wearing his winter boots with the ensemble is just the icing on the cake. A and E were cracking up at his outfit, and G was just happy to be wearing his favorite jersey, so the picture is really one of the best ones I’ve ever had of the three of them together.

The other night, as I was winding the lighted garland up the staircase, I turned around and saw E in her elf ears tying the bows on the spindles behind me. Sure, they were a little crooked and I had to go back and reinforce a few of them, but her earnest little face under those corny big ears was perfectly illuminated by the lights and was just magical.

Santa may not get around to fulfilling every last-minute request, but he’s sure to bring a few things that the kids didn’t even know they wanted until they got it, and Santa’s wisdom and knowledge of their heart’s desire will keep the magic alive for yet another year.

It’s a crazy, beautiful, magical time of year, and there is no sense in fighting off the crazy. Instead, I’ll embrace it and all the unexpected surprises that it brings. Merry Christmas and Chaos from our family to yours!

Liz Pinkey is a contributing writer to the Times News. Her column appears weekly in our Saturday feature section.