A new Christmas horror: the 6am Christmas Eve Food Shopping Trip

Once again Tim Dowling proves he is the cerebral equivalent of my identical hand twin. This is what he wrote in last Saturday's Guardian:

"Christmas, as far as I am concerned, is self-ruining, full of unrealistic expectations, disasters-in-waiting and panic buying."

Couldn't have put it better myself.

However this year, in spite of everything, I feel a lot more relaxed about the whole catastrophe that is Christmas. Which is mostly due to becoming resigned to the fact that it will consume our entire residual income for November, December and (this year) January.

I decided the best way to regard Christmas is as a formal project. It has a project manager, who - contrary to best practice - is also the project leader (C) and a resource (me).

It has an objective (i.e. getting to New Year's Day without a relationship break-down, an assault, or a life-changing injury), a clear set of deliverables (edible turkey, pristinely wrapped presents, cries of delight etc), unmovable deadlines, and a project plan (C's lists).

It will easily be delivered on budget - because the budget is open-ended (see above). Scope creep, usually the bane of any project, is not only allowed but practically mandatory.

So from now on in it's focus on the current task, cherish any fortuitous interactions with stakeholders, and hope for some positive feedback or maybe even a sticker, from the project leader, once it's all over.

Meanwhile Happy Christmas to my many, many units of readers.

PS  I still think the 6am shopping trip was a bit mad.