Is there something you are hoping for to find under your tree this Christmas?
I would like to wake to The Triple H trifecta: a Hemsworth, a hound, and a honking big diamond.
But my husband, reality, and my bank account all protest – so instead I will be thrilled with a new book or two, fruit mince pie and pyjamas.
I just love this time of year. More than the average person.
A study has found there is quite a lot of pressure to buy your kids the perfect gift as it can shape their life memory when it comes to Christmas.
Many adults have that primal memory etched in their heads of receiving their first bike or a long-awaited pair of white skates at Christmas time.
My mum did a wonderful job of raising three kids by herself, but she failed in the present department.
When I was eight years old, we woke to much excitement to open our ‘big’ gift. My older brother and sister both ripped away paper to reveal the coolest skateboards I had ever seen.
Do you remember those skinny ones that were made of horrible thick plastic and were all one block colour of bright yellow or red? Well, they scored one each.
I was in awe.
I opened my bundle to reveal knee pads and a helmet. No skateboard.
At first we all thought it was a joke. But Mum said I was too accident prone to have a skateboard.
I was at the hospital a lot as a kid because I was always breaking bones or in need of some quick stitches as a result of something silly I had done (including getting cut after I tried to learn to juggle with glass glasses).
It was the worst Christmas morning ever.
To this day, I tease my mum about it and being a strong independent woman (stubborn), she defends her actions and says a skateboard for me would have resulted in a hospital trip on Christmas day.
Families! You can’t pick your own! That f word is what I truly want for Christmas.
Our family gathering is early this year, but we will all still be together to sledge each other, play beach cricket and buy each other joke gifts.
Maybe I should bury the hatchet once and for all and buy my 81-year-old mother and myself a skateboard.
What could go wrong?
Sami Muirhead is a radio announcer, blogger and commentator. For more from Sami, tune into Mix FM.
