New Year's Resolution #1: Write more blogs (From The Northern Echo)

New Year's Resolution #1: Write more blogs

3:16pm Wednesday 7th January 2009 in Staff Blogs By Will Roberts

My blog has had an extended Christmas holiday – so I'll apologise to its readers. Sorry girlfriend, sorry Mum. Think that just about covers it.

I had one of the best Christmases I've had for a while. I'm normally a bit of a Scrooge when it comes to the festive season. I don't like having to buy X amount of presents by a certain time – it's too much pressure. I always end up buying something for someone that I know they will hate, but it's 5.30pm on Christmas Eve and I don't have any choice. It's normally my Dad who draws the short straw. This year he did okay though – he's got an allotment so I bought him 10 lots of seeds and wrapped each packet individually. With a bit of luck I'll start seeing the benefits of this present in about six months, when he has so much purple sprouting brocolli he has to offload it to his son.

I bought those seeds from the internet. In fact, most of my presents came from the web – it's so much easier and it means you don't need to go anywhere near the Metro Centre in December.

My family's Christmas Day routine comes under scrutiny ever year when I mention it to non-Robertses.

I reckon most families wake up on Christmas morning, open all their presents, play with them, start cooking dinner, eat their weight in Turkey, drink a turkey's weight in booze and then collapse in front of the telly.

Ours is 99 per cent the same – apart from one, crucial detail. We save our presents until the evening. Mad, I know. It was hard to live with as a child. All day I would see all the kids in my village whiz past my front door on new bikes or playing with a shiny remote controlled car. For most of the day, I would have to make do with a new tooth brush and a satsuma that I got in my stocking.

The big guns would come, but they would come at 9pm. I would unwrap my new remote controlled car, just about manage to charge the batteries up before it was my bed time. It was torture.

Things aren't so bad now, but I do still get a rush of jealousy when I see those 10-year-olds with their new toys.