From Rachel Chamberlin Schwanewede, TODAYshow.com producer

Forget "my two front teeth"! I got those a long time ago (we won't specify how many years exactly) and luckily they're still intact (for now). But no matter how hard I try and how much I attempt to get a jump on things, every year I reach December and launch into a full-fledged sweat wondering how I can find more time to do everything I need to do to get through Christmas, New Year's and all that comes between now and then. I'll just sleep less. Yeah. That's the trick!

I'll do all of my shopping online (until 2:15 a.m. last night, or this morning to be exact) and still try to function on only a few hours of sleep. That may work sometimes, or it can really blow up in your face (no pun intended).

Case in point: Last year my husband Todd and I wrapped gifts until 5:00 a.m. Christmas morning -- after hosting 50 people at our house for a Christmas Eve celebration -- and then landed in the E.R. at 8:30 a.m. after my then 3-year-old, accidentally knocked a statue off of a shelf and onto my face as I lay (three months pregnant) in the bed below. Four hours in the E.R. and eight stitches later, I returned home for a terrific celebration, but that smackdown slowed me down for sure.

My theory has always been: There'll be time to sleep in January. Just plow ahead, enjoy your family, enjoy the parties, do it all. But lately I'm thinking there has to be a better way.

I know what you'll all say: "Just simplify your life. Slow down a little." That's what everyone says, but do any of us really do it? And when you come from a big family and have a young, growing family, work and love to have fun, it's a lot easier said than done. Sleep's just a waste of time, right? I'll have lots of time to sleep when I'm old and retired. Well, let's hope I stay healthy and can make it there!

-- Sleepless in Santaland

Share your secrets for keeping it sane and fun for the holidays!

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