As Christmas inches closer, the excitement level seems to reach higher and higher each day. In a household with young children, the excitement level seems to inch higher and higher every minute!

I grew up in a large family, as one of six children. Having six children in a house during the days leading up to Christmas meant an ever-growing level of chaos that seemed nearly impossible to contain! I remember lying awake in my bed at night, too excited to sleep, imagining what particular joys the upcoming Christmas festivities would bring. Of course, my joy at that age was solely concentrated on what gifts I would soon be opening.

One of the ways of monitoring the nearness of Christmas was to gauge the height of the wrapped presents that piled up underneath our Christmas tree. The tree was alway…