That Time of Year Again...

'You may have spent the last 3 months working up to this but it never turns how you wanted it to'

The latest addition of the television guide is double the size so it can fit in all the repeats of Christmas specials that will be on television, everything has had to be taken out of the fridge or squashed up at the top to make way for a 15lb turkey, and the same card from the next-door neighbours keeps dropping off the mantelpiece. It can only mean one thing - it's the season of good will.

Already this week, there have been interviews on the news of people suggesting that Christmas isn't what it used to be. Oh, it's no good anymore; it's too commercialised, oh, it hasn't got the same feeling that it used to have, oh, it was so much more family orientated in the old days - it used to be ten times better.

Of course, that depends if you thought sitting, playing with an orange and a thimble on Christmas day in the freezing cold with rickets, polio, and smallpox was part of the festive spirit.

But, after spending Christmas eve looking for a jar of cranberry sauce and throwing elderly women and children in opposite directions to get the last one, Christmas day never goes to plan anyway.

Christmas day. The big day. You may have spent the last 3 months working up to this day but it never turns how you wanted it to.

You get up at the crack of dawn to put the bird in the oven - using a new method this year (as always) after seeing your favourite television chef make it look perfect the week before.

This time, as you've heard Jamie Oliver say, for this year's latest method for preparation of the perfect turkey you need to make a special mixture to pour over the top: you need to import emu oil from the Australian outback; making sure it's travelled by sea - not aeroplane, add it to the fur of big foot before being stirred with the horn of a unicorn, poured over the French alps and lightly filtered over Angelina Jolie's nipples.

But, you still know in the back of your mind the turkey will still be dry.

You'll then rush to open the presents and watch the last 3 months worth of money that you gladly through into the arms of capitalism be ripped open and left scattered all over the room in about 10 minutes.

And you can watch and count how long people stare in admiration at a Top Shop voucher or at the book they told you to buy them.

If you're young you'll want to play with your toys that you can't open without a chain saw and several nuclear warheads. If you're a mother you stare blankly at the kettle with built in water filter and if you're a father you smile and pretend that socks and a Toblerone was just what you've always wanted.

And as for entertainment: In an age where television, PlayStations, the internet, Blu-Ray players and Nintendo Wii's compete for the attention of our eyeballs, watching Mary Poppins for the 100th time may not be the most popular choice.

And it's also time for people to complain about what's actually on the television at Christmas. Gone are the days of 30 million viewers watching Den serving Angie divorce papers; 10 million viewers is now deemed popular.

Forget the birth of Christ, it seems to be Doctor Who Day. The Queen's speech in HD, Strictly Come Dancing (again) and the soap storylines that probably involve an affair, a dead body, someone leaving, and a pregnancy test.

But while it's easy to criticise and be miserable and see whether the family are still talking to each other by the time Wallace and Gromit starts, everyone enjoys Christmas in their own little way.

While we wish John Lennon's Happy Christmas War is Over was still relevant and while it can be a time of reflection on loss and a time when you can feel homesick in your own home as much as it is a time for celebration - Christmas isn't just a date for presents and tinsel and television - it's a reminder that another year has passed, time is moving on and so while we can groan and grumble we should make of it what we can.

No matter how bad the family are.