My approach has been the same since it all got really serious - if it's going to start three months early, it should last for a week, to make it worth the build-up. If it's going to last a day, it should start one week before.
Sadly, what we have is the three month build-up for one day.
That said, I loathed Christmas as a child - just waiting for the row between by parents to kick off.
As an adult, I have had amazing Christmases with my family I have now, and really do my best to get into the spirit, but I have to say that January 2 is one of my best days - everything back to normal again, how I like it.