Christmas is one of the most hectic times of the year, and there is so much to get ready. Is the food ordered? Are all the presents bought and wrapped? Have the Christmas cards been posted? Is there enough in the house to last until the shops open again? Have I forgotten something?

All those preparations help make Christmas the occasion it is, and Roger Carswell uses them to raise the one question the list leaves out. Short, seasonal and inexpensive, and designed to be given to a neighbor or slipped into a Christmas card rather than read twice.