“At the end of the day, son… it’s a Sunday dinner with a starter.”

By Aidan Begley, Senior Outreach and Widening Participation Officer.

“At the end of the day, son… it’s a Sunday dinner with a starter.”

Now for some folk, this punchy description of Christmas from my Dad may well be hitting the nail on the head.

For others, it’ll send them into a rage because, well… its Christmas and it is the biggest thing EVER!

For your scribe here tapping away at the keyboard (me!), I kind of fall somewhere in between.

It’s both a great time of year to get together with families and friends, relax, watch a lot of television and work your way through box of after box of Celebrations (leaving the Bounty and Snickers ones. Obvs!)

I also look at it at a time of year where you’re bombarded with messages to make it the ‘perfect’ Christmas.

I mean, in all reality, Christmas dinner isn’t going to be ruined if you fail to get your hands on Madagascan organic vanilla ice cream for desert. I’m pretty sure normal vanilla will suffice.

Maybe I come off a different standpoint when it comes to yuletide festivities.

In my younger formative years, I was delighted when my old man would appear with a Vienetta – that truly was the height of sophistication, but now as I’m tipping towards my fourth decade on this mortal coil, I try to be more balanced on my viewpoint.

Especially as a parent, I certainly have changed my views on the festive period – I get to see, year-on-year, the excitement seeing of my little lad as he understands more of what it is about.

Getting excited as he knows it’s getting nearer. Telling him who Father Christmas is, whilst secretly trying to snaffle presents away in cupboards across the house and worrying about just where on earth all these toys are going to go?!

Now granted, we’ve not gone down the route of getting the Bible out and mapping it out.

He’s just happy at ripping open his presents, running around in novelty pyjamas and probably refusing to wear another outfit lovingly purchased for him for his nativity.

It was a star outfit last year and he wore it for the time it takes to make a brew. He then proceeded to run around the stage waving at people. A mini version of Bez from the Happy Mondays if you like.

I also get to see the strain and that parents and carers put themselves under in order to make it the ‘perfect’ Christmas for their kids so they will have magical memories forever of their childhood.

This might be a range of activities for the kids to undertake, it might be stretching themselves financially, or it may be the strain of worrying that their little ones may not have the ‘most wonderful time of the year’ as the song goes.

This is particularly hard where we’re now slap-bang in the middle of a period of time I call ‘Christmas creep.’ Halloween and Bonfire night have gone, so now it’s all Christmas, Christmas, Christmas on television and with it, comes the perceived need to spend, spend, spend.

For some, that is what their year builds up to, for others, it’s a time where the jingling of bells is as welcome as a chocolate fireguard.

Either way, these handy hints and tips from Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert can at least provide some nuggets of interest before the festive period is truly upon us.

So let me wish you a rather early… Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Now… where’s the remote control gone? Escape to Victory is on now!