The spirit of the season

8. Eat late. There’s nothing worse – in my experience – than a blow out meal in the middle of the day, followed by acres of endless telly. On top of the lunchtime booze, you can wind up poleaxed on the sofa at seven o’clock wondering when it’s okay to go to bed! We eat around six. You keep everyone happy till then with a singsong around the piano in the morning, when the kids have tired of the presents in their stockings, and a massive presents opening session around the tree in the afternoon.

9. Take it slowly. If you open the presents one at a time rather than simultaneously, you share in the delight of the person giving and the person receiving each present. Port and mince pies oil the wheels for the adults, nibbles stave off hunger for the kids. In our house, this part of the day lasts up to three hours. It sounds long, but you really can’t beat spinning out this pivotal point of the day, when anticipation is at it’s highest.

10. Party pieces. We have a ‘train’ in the centre of the groaning dinner table, little cardboard trucks containing gifts. Each person has to perform a small party piece to claim a gift. The prospect of the impending performance and the quandary of ‘what to do’ tends to weigh mightily upon the shoulders of members of my family as the big meal approaches, but it’s always a total hoot when the time comes, with everyone rising to the occasion.

11. Play family games. Charades, quizzes (there’s loads in the paper and magazines at this time of year), Twenty Questions, board games, card games…

12. Batteries. I bet seventy five per cent of the presents you buy your kids need batteries. However, if you’ve forgotten to buy them, you can always take them out of your television control. The walk back and forth to change channels will be good exercise.

Have one to remember.