This year I am actually surprising myself at the level of excitement I’m feeling about Christmas. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no bah humbug and I do get into the full swing of things but it does normally take me a while to get warmed up. I’m usually the one tutting at the neighbour’s multi-coloured lights and over the top Grotto style decorations erected the very minute December arrives but this year I found myself (kind of) joining them. OK so I did wait until December was fully established and I’d like to think my decorations are more ‘stylish celebration’ than ‘garish grotto’ but never the less the excitement and enjoyment was certain present. Of course all of this festive enthusiasm is down to one little lad (and lady, but she hasn’t got a clue what is going on!), but with enthusiasm comes a whole heap of challenges…

Firstly, and the very first day of December, you are faced with the ordeal of the Advent Calendar; it is near on an impossible task to explain to a (very nearly) 3 year old the concept of having a whole calendar, completely full of chocolate, with cute little decorated doors that they are only allowed to open one door every day for the thimble of chocolate that they more or less inhale in less than 30 seconds. Fin’s face when I explained to him that he would have to wait a whole 24 hours until he could open another window for another thimble was priceless…’no mummy, more chocolate please…’ (while pointing to another closed window) it was as if he was letting me into a top secret, only he knew, ‘there is more behind that one you know…’! The first few days in I more or less had to plaster the thing to the ceiling to stop his constant craving!

Next it’s the advertisers dream, which my son clearly is…you can’t escape, TV and radio ads, billboards, out and about shopping  – ‘Mummy, can we buy this?’, ‘Mummy, I’d like that from Father Christmas’, ‘Mummy, Mummy…’ or if the given item is pink or a doll ‘Mummy, I don’t want Father Christmas to bring me that, that’s Imogen’s!’. And my reply to everything? ‘Well we’ll have to ask Father Christmas’! That bloke has a whole heap of expectation on his shoulders; I wonder how he sleeps at night!!

And whilst we are on the subject of shopping, I can bet my life that all of his cousins and friends will know precisely what they will be getting from us (but not really us because it’s from ‘Father Christmas’? – poor little mite, he must be so confused!), Fin is simply so excited about giving them the said toy. My nephews are arriving at the weekend and I’m sure that within 10 minutes of their arrival Fin is bound to spoil any surprise they might of had, I can hear it now…’Mummy, can we give Callum his Octonauts present?!’

With all of these trivial Christmas challenges though comes the best bargaining tool known to man…’Father Christmas is watching you’! The very minute Fin steps out of line he is reined back in with the slight mention of the big man’s name. So maybe getting into the Christmas spirit does work after all…