How Different were your childhood Christmases to those now?
I may sound like I'm bragging but I really don't think I've ever had a bad Christmas in my life, and I owe that to my brilliant parents! I'm an only child (not spoilt, I promise) and my parents always went all out for me. In the lead up to Christmas there'd be shopping trips up to London, visits to Santa's grotto, and other events. And then on the day itself we'd have family, friends, and neighbours join us in the evening. Sometimes though we went over to other family members' homes for Christmas and that was great too.
Now that I'm a mum, I work very hard to keep that magic alive for my own kids who are still quite young. I want them to look back at Christmas as a special time, so a lot of the traditions and things my parents did for me, I do for my kids. I suppose the only difference is that they get a lot more presents than I did!
How are similar/different are your then and now Christmases?
Well I celebrate Christmas in the summer months when it's hot and sunny for a start! Going to the beach on Christmas Day was never one of my traditions growing up but I love it!