MODERN FAMILY
HOW can it only be a month to Christmas? I know it comes but once a year, on the same date every year, but once again it has crept around again, just like Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, and sent me into a full scale panic.
There are no presents wrapped because there are no presents to wrap, the turkey is ordered, but that is only thanks to my dad’s forward planning, and nobody can remember where we packed away the decorations last year.
It doesn’t help that every single advert on television features either Santa, an alien who crash landed on Christmas Day, or a table groaning with a magical Christmas spread that would feed a family of 20, all piling on the pressure in the build up to “the perfect day”.
Don’t get me wrong, I love everything about the festive season, the story of the nativity, the sparkly lights, the parties with friends and family, the decorations, the presents and, since I became a mum, the fantastic opportunities available to bribe your children to be on their best behaviour, no matter what age they are.
It is still easy to get them to tidy their bedrooms or do some chores when the latest must-have game is being dangled in front of them like one of the carrots they will still put out for Rudolph on Christmas Eve.
I just really, really want to be one of those people who start their shopping in January and have everything wrapped up and ready for under the tree at the start of September, but it never happens.
As someone used to working to deadlines, always leaving it to the last minute, you will usually find me in a shopping centre on Christmas Eve with a look of sheer panic when I realise the only thing left for the Christmas Day Secret Santa is the novelty roll of toilet paper with an unfunny logo written across it.
Nothing like the mum on the lifestyle show who has spent £2,500 buying more than 300 Christmas gifts for her children, even more shocking is that she started stockpiling in the summer and had everything wrapped months in advance.
Sitting in a panic trying to make lists, trying to work out what to get for who, a friend messages with a great suggestion. Instead of buying each other’s children gifts they don’t really need, we should make a donation to a local children’s charity.
She was right, we don’t need to spend money we can’t afford on presents that aren’t really needed.
The only Christmas present we wanted last year was to see family and friends, and the past two years have shown us how important the little things can be.
We shouldn’t let the hustle and bustle of a commercial Christmas send us into a blind panic and stop us from seeing what’s really important and just enjoying the time we have with family and friends.