Can you smell that? That is the smell of fear wafting it’s way around the world slowly as midnight strikes in various parts of these great lands.

And why the fear at midnight you may ask? Does it have something to do with the witching hour? With the supernatural entities that can this Earth?

Oh if only it was that easy my fellow travelers. Were it but a demonic being that had come forth with the twelfth strike of the chimes, but noooo, the reality is the current reason for my fear is far greater than anything that the ‘other side’ could throw at me.

You see midnight signifies the changing of the calender, and that makes it the FIRST OF DECEMBER!!!

Dear lord, less that 4 weeks until Christmas! There is no hiding from it now my good friends. The decorations are up in the stores around the world. Kids everywhere are trying to behave and pretending that it their usual approach to life.

As for me I know that tomorrow being the first means risking life and limb to climb the ladder in the garage and try and retrieve the plastic abomination that is our Christmas tree. Then I have to open a thousand boxes looking for all those decorations knowing all along that everything will be in the last box (but also knowing that no matter in what order I search the boxes I can’t fool fate and try and find them any earlier - not even by opening the last box first).

Wow I am not even sure that last bit made sense so you can see this really has got to me.

Then there is present shopping. It is the time of year when the spoiling of the children on a 24/7 basis comes back to haunt me.

What do you get the toddler that has everything?

What do you get the baby that has everything handed down to it AND a new version of everything as well (have I ever mentioned we have 6 prams - just one example of our excess!)

And of course all the relatives are going to ring me and ask what to get our kids for Christmas and they will think I am a bad parent if I tell them the truth which is they have everything already and they deserve nothing so I have decided to invest all the present money in scotch and drink away the holiday season!

Of course I couldn’t get away with that - but it does kind of appeal even for a non drinker like me. I just want it to end - of course January just brings the first round of birthdays for the new year so there is just no where to hide!