This year we decided to have a much more

CHRISTMAS had lost its sparkle over the last few years.

As a child, it was an incredible day, mostly because of the presents.

And then Father Christmas stopped making deliveries due to ever increasing demands and age-related restrictions.

I was left to rely on the generosity of my parents, who didn’t understand my needs and were keen to explain they operated from a different budget.

At least there were still chocolates to eat on a morning but then Christmas gave the gift of alcohol.

The arrival of champagne, Baileys and beer added some much-needed cheer to the festive spirit.

Unfortunately, the heady thrill of drinking in the family home was subdued by the perils of going out with old school friends on Christmas Eve.

Invariably, the last thing I felt like was alcohol after a night of extravagance in the local pub.

As the years disappeared then so did the presents, friends and enthusiasm.

It was still good but it was a long way from running down the stairs on a wintry morning to thrash through gifts.

Maybe the twins would bring the party and give Christmas some sparkle. Well, they certainly made it more of a demanding festive holiday.

Instead of just feeding myself, I had to worry about others.

Instead of just sitting down to eat lunch, we had to time it with the twins’ sleeping arrangements.

And instead of falling asleep, I changed some nappies.

There were also a lot of presents.

Although, we decided not to wrap our gifts to them, simply because we didn’t think the twins understood the concept of a day dedicated to the birth of a boy 2,000 years ago.