Ok, admittedly rather a Scrooge-like title for this post but, let’s face it, Christmas is a lot of work, not to mention a lot of expense. Maybe your household is different but, I think it is fair to say, in many families the bulk of the to-do list falls on the woman. I am writing this with a month to go but already I am conscious that I need to choose gifts for friends who live overseas and post them. Last year I bought a friend in Australia a beautiful pale grey bag from White Stuff. Unbeknownst to me, a couple of days after I posted it, my friend moved house. She never even set eyes on that bag but I hope her former landlady enjoys using it.

Christmas becomes a little easier, but perhaps less fun, once the children become teenagers. Two of my children have birthdays in early January by which time I have usually run out of gift-giving steam. Now, I still fill a stocking (well actually a pillowcase) for each of them but they are happy with cold hard cash as a main gift. A tip to anyone considering buying a teenager a gift set of some sort, especially toiletries – don’t! They would rather have five pounds cash than a fifteen pound box of smellies that they will never use. If the idea of giving money just doesn’t feel right to you then perhaps compromise and give them a voucher, maybe ASOS who stock hundreds of different fashion brands and seem to have a permanent sale on. My youngest son would probably choose a simple white T shirt like this one from The North Face,

If you really want to give a physical gift then, for girls, I don’t think you can go far wrong with Oliver Bonas who sell beautiful accessories starting at around £15. This pretty star bracelet is simple yet elegant.

I am a sucker for a cuddly toy so, for younger children, I would probably buy a cuddly Christmas reindeer. In fact my youngest son has quite a collection of these from years past and I was very sad when he was obviously too old for soft toys. This little chap from John Lewis is very reasonably priced at £15 and is good for cuddles all year round because reindeer aren’t just for Christmas!

I enjoy choosing gifts for my friends and sometimes do adopt the “one for you, one for me” approach when I find something I really like. I usually spend around £30-£40 on these gifts. I do have rather a repetitive repertoire I must admit, silver earrings, nice make-up bags, a leather purse or card-holder, silver keyring. Something like this cute mouse keyring from Alessi or this beautiful leather purse from Sage Brown which looks like you’ve been shopping at Bottega Veneta.

My parents are n their late eighties and really don’t need much but this year I have bought them new pyjamas and dressing gowns, predictably from Marks and Spencer. I took a bit of time choosing carefully because my parents, sadly, are both very frail and can easily trip when going down the stairs if the pyjama hems are too wide or the leg too long. My mum has osteoporosis and has shrunk considerably during the past five years, so much so that I now buy the cropped leg length for her.

As for my husband, well he isn’t really worried about receiving gifts as long as everyone else is happy. This year I have bought him a much-needed new coat from Crew Clothing. They had a 20% off event which was very helpful.

Our first Christmas card arrived today, as always it is from my eighty-eight year old aunt who writes them during August. She send over two hundred and fifty, many to people she hasn’t seen for thirty years. To be honest, I suspect may of the intended recipients may have moved or even died years go as she hardly receives any in return but I am too polite to suggest this to her. She enjoys her yearly ritual of sitting out in her garden during the height of summer preparing for December! Receiving this fist card always sends me into a bit of a panic so I had better get my address book out and start writing some of my own.

Thanks for reading.

Samantha