Organised sidekick's a real gift

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Secret Santa, crippling hangovers, colossal weight gain, the walk of shame the first day back after the works do, trawling around gridlocked supermarkets, buying presents for pets and looming credit card bills. All seems a bit, well, silly now doesn’t it?

It was fun while it lasted – a few minutes of pure magic watching your kids open their presents but with that nagging oh-my-God-did-I-buy-enough? panic at the back of your mind.

We fall for it every year. And around this time every year we tell ourselves the same thing – next year will be different.

Who’s The Daddy? may occasionally come across as a black-hearted cynic whose only lifelong soul mate is Manchester United, but this is one of the few columns that actually cares about the people who read it.

Some of us are lucky enough to have hitched their wagon to someone who knows what they’re doing and aren’t just making it all up as they go along. These people are golden and if one comes into your life, cling on and never let go because if you treat them right they will always have your back.

The boss is one such person and thanks to her foresight and canny financial management, the Christmas pot always stretches that little bit further than it has any right to. Here’s what she does (if I were you I’d cut this column out, stick it on your fridge and this time next year you’ll thank me). Every month she saves a little bit of her salary and come December payday, there’s a chunk of money that pays for the majority of Christmas.

I know, it’s not rocket science. And it doesn’t cover it all. But without that money we’d be absolutely screwed. And if I’ve learned one thing in nearly 20 years of marriage it’s this – listen to your wife, she knows best.

Men are generally loveable idiots who can’t think past their next pair of retro Adidas trainers. The women of the house run things – and thank God they do. Imagine if organising a family Christmas was left to the man of the house! In fact, don’t.

Anyway, I hope you all had a great time. And Happy New Year.