Mum in the city

AT this festive time of year it is clear that those of us who celebrate Christmas divide into two distinct kinds of people.

Those who can’t wait to deck the halls with boughs of holly and, well, people like me, who at the first early flash of tinsel in shopping centres get that familiar sinking feeling.

I’m really not a Christmas person. I think for many of us Christmas is one of the most draining times of the year when there’s too much to do in too little time and way too much pressure.

Yet it just can’t be avoided – especially if you are a parent.

However, despite the best intentions, things don’t quite work out the way they’re meant to. My recent Christmas disasters include:

• The night before Christmas when the fridge went on the fritz in the heat and we had to chuck out most of our Christmas food.
• The turkey I forgot to defrost and we ended up eating chicken risotto.
• The huge turkey that took forever to cook and we didn’t get to eat until about 9pm after we dismembered it and stuck it in the microwave.
• The turkey meatloaf that may not have been turkey at all and gave us mild food poisoning.
• The large, natural Christmas tree that developed a hunchback, insect infestation and dropped pine needles all over lounge room floor and had to be urgently replaced late on Christmas eve with a tiny artificial tree from the supermarket.
• The carefully wrapped presents that our new puppy completely destroyed.
• The Christmas lights cable he chewed causing a short circuit and we only narrowly avoided house fire.
• The smelly present our now fully grown cocker spaniel deposited under the tree that on Christmas morning the kids excitedly thought was reindeer poo .

One might think these disasters might have psychologically scarred our children, but the truth is they hardly noticed as they were carried away by the excitement of the day (although last year when we had Christmas dinner at a much more organised, foodie friend’s house they did say it was their best Christmas ever.)

To save yourself the last-minute panic, get your act together early (like about now). It does help. But if this is beyond you and, like me, you fly by the seat of your pants, don’t panic either.

As parents, we often seek a perfectly orchestrated day when a simple happy Christmas full of sharing, fun and love is all that is really required.