Of course, purchasing the gifts comes after deciding who you're going to buy for and what your budget is for each person . . . which I inevitably go over every year.
There was a small debate in our house this week over whether we were buying presents for the animals.
I was adamant that we should buy a small gift for the dog because she will actually tear apart the wrapping paper, throw her gift in the air and generally display great pleasure at having been remembered.
The cat, however, will show no such emotion and probably wouldn't even use the cat castle that my partner was insisting we buy.
We settled on a small mat that cost $3.99 but made sure we removed the price tag before wrapping; God forbid the cat find out we spent more on the dog.
The decorating of the Christmas tree always causes me some grief as well, as I have no artistic ability whatsoever.
In previous years at least one of my stepsons has been interested in helping but now they both consider themselves far too grown up for such a menial task.
Luckily, I was able to enlist the help of my nieces, aged 3 and 5, who took great delight in being given the freedom to decorate the tree the way they wanted.
It looks terrible, like someone just threw decorations at it without caring that the tinsel was all at the top and one side was holding three quarters of the decorations and one side was practically bare. But I love it.
They were so proud of their work and I'm not going to change a thing because, a) I couldn't do a better job anyway and b) kids are what Christmas is all about.
• Don't miss Adam Green and Sarah van der Kley on The Hits Hawke's Bay from 6am to 9am, Monday to Friday.
