The tradition everyone loves deserves a plan for the person who always organizes it.

Traditions look self-sustaining from inside them. Somebody books the room, chases the replies, buys the food and remembers whose turn it is, and because they always have, nobody counts it as work. The custom is only as durable as that one person’s health and willingness.

Work out who does the arranging for the gatherings you enjoy, and ask what the job actually involves. Take one part of it off them this year rather than offering vaguely to help. Something two or three people know how to run will outlast something that depends on a single pair of hands.