Christmas Eve was the best. It was full of anticipation. The lights around the tree would stay on all night. Sleep wouldn’t come easy. The thought of what the morning may hold was too enticing.

It was always so much better than Christmas day. After all, when Dec. 25 finally came, it meant all the excitement of the previous month would soon be gone.

That was always my favorite part of Christmas really, even as a kid. I liked the music and the lights and food and the planning and the gift wrapping. That stuff was great.

The getting was always cool, but the giving was infinitely better.

My approach to Christmas is different now. I don’t wrap gifts anymore. I have our ad manager Tiffany Cannon to thank for filling that void.

I don’t drive around town to look at the lights these days. I just don’t seem to find the time.

I don’t get excited about the food and I barely listen to the music. I don’t watch the holiday specials.

I still like buying gifts, but it is hard not to take note of the diminishing bank account.

Christmas really is easier for kids. But this weekend, I’m going to challenge myself.

I’m going to challenge myself to take time to drive around town and look at the lights. I’m going to challenge myself to listen to some holiday music.

I’m going to challenge myself to find at least some of the joy that Christmas seemed to hold when I was younger.

It won’t be exactly the same. I won’t look out my bedroom door and see the lights on the tree as my family doesn’t put one up anymore.

But I will wake up on Christmas morning. And there will be the smell of food. And there will be gifts exchanged. And there will probably be a disagreement about something frivolous. And there will be more food.

And, if you know my family, there will be yet more food. Primarily sweets.

But, I guess the reality is that Christmas is just like it always has been. It is just up to us to choose to take the time to enjoy it, to let ourselves get caught up in the cheesiness of it all, and — for one month — be a little more childlike.

Jeremy D. Smith is the sports editor of the Demopolis Times