‘Tis the season to be running around like a mad thing.

The manifold wonders of nursery/school/church nativity plays are nearly upon us, and with it comes a social diary that hasn’t been quite so full since I was five. Christmas fairs, parties, dads and kids cooking morning, dress rehearsals for our fledgling angels (oh, the irony).

All of this is superimposed upon a weekly schedule that already includes school runs, phonics practice, meal preparation, and all the 1001 other things that looking after two small children involves. Oh, and the day job (which is itself massively busy in the run-up to Christmas, with a webcast link-up between three countries to get ready for). And extra bits like stepping into the musical breach at church for Sunday evening’s service.

Undoubtedly mums get it worse (and grandmothers – to whom unceasing thanks are due for working wonders with distinctly substandard seraphimic apparel). But I am cream-crackered already, and we’re still three weeks off the Big Day.

The prospect of a couple of weeks off work is most appealing. Except it doesn’t really work like that any more. Gone are the days of long lie-ins, back-to-back 24 and methodically working through a biblical expanse of chocolate. Instead, it’s a case of being leapt upon at an indecent hour of the morning by two small pirates/princesses/bees, back-to-back CBeebies and wondering who to blame for the ludicrous invention of Advent calendars that introduce chocolate (and, ergo, sugar) into the children’s diet before breakfast.

How does one simplify life in the run-up to Christmas, relax and find time to actually focus on the things that are really important? I do not yet have a solution. Or at least not one that doesn’t involve wrapping the girls up instead of the presents…