Happy Times This Christmas...

• I am a fan of anything that kids and parents can enjoy together – The Simpsons, rollercoasters, hash cookies – and Guitar Hero ticks all the boxes. For the uninitiated this is a PS2 game where you simulate rock riffs with a real-life (well, plastic) guitar which attaches to the console. The four of us played for many an hour and I discovered that firstly, I am a very competitive parent and, secondly, I could give Suzi Quatro a run for her money. Normally I am utterly and laughingly hopeless at PS2 games but let me tell you, this mum really ROCKS! (And The Husband found it strangely arousing…)

• Family dance classes: showing my son ‘how we did it in my day’ to the Arctic Monkeys, and him laughing so hard he turned puce.

• The annual trip to the pantomime. We laughed loudly, we booed even more loudly, we shouted ‘behind you’ and we sang along competitively to a ridiculous song. The Husband is so loud and potentially embarrassing that we draw straws for who sits next to him. I hope the kids don’t grow out of this.

• Tucking my son up in bed on Christmas night, and him telling me it has been his best Christmas ever. He says it every year, and every year I find it more touching.

• Spending four days with my loveliest, bestest friend, laughing and crying in equal measures and remembering how special it is to have some women-time.