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Nowadays, most families put up their Christmas tree and decorations earlier and earlier, it seems to me. It is not unusual to see fairy lights twinkling from a living room window in late November, and many of those who put up outdoor displays do so even earlier.

This must surely mean that the run up to Chrismas is even longer and therefore more stressful for those with small children. I remember waiting impatiently for the magical night on which Santa would descend via the chimney to bring me the toys I had been good enough to deserve. Years later I spent this period of the year warning my own children that if they weren't good, Santa would not visit them. In how many homes is this dire warning held above innocent childish heads? I always vowed I would never bribe or threaten my children…yet we all do it – don't we?

I can't imagine getting through December – let alone the two or three months before it – without some negotiations with the junior members of the household. Unless you do something to prevent it, Christmas lists of wants can appear in September and demands for trees and baubles could kick in by October.

So there was an agreement with my children that the C word was not to be mentioned until Firework Night was over. Only then could the Argos catalogues be scanned intently and annotated carefully: 'Want'…'Want'….'Really want'….'Need'…

My children came up with the idea of leaving a small gap in the curtains when they were closed each evening against the winter darkness, so that if one of Santa's elves happened to be passing he could look in the house to see how good they were being.

An annual tradition grew up of visiting the Bluebell Railway to sample the delights of their Santa Specials each year. On an early trip, my eldest son realised on the way home that he would be out way past his bedtime and, mindful of my assertion that Santa would only visit good boys who went to bed at the proper time, he became quite concerned, until a solution came to him.

Of course, the Man in the Moon was up there and could see him – and surely the Man in the Moon knew Santa – everyone did, so the answer was simple.

Winding down the car window, he called out: 'Man in the Moon, can you tell Father Christmas please that I have been to the Bluebell Railway to see him and that's why I'm still out after bedtime. But I promise to go straight to bed when I get home'. And he did!

Another family tradition was the baking of the Christmas biscuits. This was originally devised as a means of keeping the children busy after the end of the school term but they demanded that the tradition continued through their years at university. I baked a batch of shortbread biscuits, piercing a which the children then decorated with writing icing. There were circular biscuits on which Santa faces could be piped, and tree and star shapes which could be decorated in bright colours. Or, as they moved into their teenage years, with darker humour and jibes at their siblings.

These biscuits were then put in the freezer until the day before Christmas Eve, when they were defrosted on a tray ready for the next morning. On December 24th the first job after breakfast woudl be to put the biscuits, along with the chocolate tree decorations, on the tree. For very good reasons – that they would have long gone before the big day – these items were not hung on the tree as soon as it was put up.

Even then, the tree was never in our household acquired and put up more than a couple of weeks before Christmas, and usually the weekend before. The first time we celebrated Christmas in our own home (and thereby hangs another tale…) my husband actually asked whether or not I wanted a tree! As if I would consider not having one! His only stipulation though, was that if we were to have a tree at all it had to be a real one, dropped pine needles and all, because he disliked artificial trees. I was more than happy to go along with that so for each year following, it was the male members of the family who help the responsibility for finding the perfect tree, and while they were out buying it the females started decorating the house. Once home, the men put the tree in place and we all contributed to decorating. Which some years meant the children decorated it and then once their backs were turned we stripped and re-decorated it so that the tinsel was not all lumped together on one branch and the baubles were evenly distributed on the branches.

Christmas preparations have always been a delight and a chore for me – I spend the month of December ruing the fact that yet again I have not been as organised as I intended to be and as the last posting date approaches the cards still lie there unwritten and unposted, and I risk having to use Amazon's Premium service to ensure all presents arrive on time and no one is disappointed on the day.

At least my family have now grown past the stage where they simply must have the latest toy. In years past I have scoured the shops in the manner of Arnold Schwartzeneger in 'Jingle All The Way' in search of Buzz Lightyears, Woodys, Barbie cars and so on.

The most challenging was definitely Thunderbird's Tracy Island…