Hooray, it’s Christmas at last! Weeks and weeks after they put the festive lights up, they’re finally going on. And those of us (and I am aware we are painfully few in number) who like Christmas can start enjoying the season.

I am now allowed to whistle tunelessly or hum Christmas carols (another superstition I inherited from my mum), make and eat mince pies, put up Christmas decorations and go Ho Ho Ho at the Bah Humbug Scrooges who just see Santa as someone else to moan about.

Having been accused of wanting to drown the family Christmas in nostalgia, I am, however, open to suggestions as to how to update things.

Sending festive goodwill greetings on social media instead of writing Christmas cards is more modern, but what about aged relatives who will be offended not to receive a card through the post?

What does one do with Christmas afternoon if we are not going to go for a walk or struggle with a family jigsaw or board game? Are there any family-friendly XBox games?

After all, Christmas does evolve on its own. It seems to me we have (mainly) stopped doing the things our grandparents did (how many of us share the big day with all our extended family, or even any family at all, let alone complete strangers?) and started doing the things we have been persuaded are part of Christmas by commercialism. If I never see a TV Christmas special, Morecambe and Wise included, again I will not be sorry.