You might think that the second week in October is a little early to be getting ready for Christmas. But you’d be wrong — at least as far as I’m concerned. I started prepping for Christmas at the end of August.

I know this will set many people’s teeth on edge. While I look forward to sorting out gifts, gift tags, table settings, online grocery delivery slots and brandy butter, I know that others want to put this palaver off for as long as possible.

My husband certainly thinks I am mad. Each year he reminds me that, until we were married, he started his Christmas shopping at 2pm on Christmas Eve.  

These days, as a concession to me, he starts on December 18. But no earlier.

First task on my list, ticked off by the August bank holiday, is buying tickets for the Christmas shows that we want to see (this year it’s Mark Gatiss’s A Christmas Carol and Peter Pan Goes Wrong).  

Esther Walker’s first task in planning for Christmas was buying panto tickets, which she had ticked off by the August bank holiday 

I admit, it’s odd to be doing this during a late August mini heatwave, but all the best seats are gone by Halloween.

After this warm-up, the starting pistol on my Christmas season fires at the end of September, which is when Ocado customers who have a Smart Pass (the monthly £8.99 fee that waives delivery charges) are given access to Christmas week slots — for a further fee of up to £9.99. My slot this year is December 23 at 5-6pm.

From here on, no matter what else I am doing, in the back of my mind is the steady thrum of Christmas. 

I will edit my Christmas Ocado order many times, adding extra Brussels sprouts; taking them away; adding smoked salmon; then bagels — you can never have enough butter and, ooh yes, some chocolate tree decorations.

This weekend I will open the Christmas Box, and do a stock-take of what we’ve got left over in terms of wrapping paper, cards and ribbon. 

Then I will start one of my many, many lists. How many non-family members need a gift? Are there enough tape and gift tags?

My son has lots of suggestions for his Christmas presents, but my husband and daughter are impossible to buy for, so the thinking starts now. Having a sensible list of gifts means there are no sweaty, last-minute, waste-of-money panic buys.

And I’m not just planning for Christmas Day. I am less of a fan of the actual 25th than Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and the days and weeks either side. While many want to postpone prepping for Christmas for as long as possible, Esther relishes sorting out gifts, gift tags, table settings, online grocery delivery slots and brandy butter

What’s nice to eat for Christmas Eve dinner? A nice plain fish pie, perhaps. Or cold cuts and a salad, maybe. 

How are we going to entertain ourselves in that nothingy time until New Year? I’d better look up what festive events are on at London Zoo or the National Gallery.

Few people understand why I want to spend autumn thinking about Christmas, so I must collude in private with my friend Claudia, the only person I know who is more fanatic about preparing for Christmas than me. 

Her organisation and attention to detail make me look like a total slob. She starts a fresh Pinterest board every year for maximum control. (Yes, I follow it.)

‘I started ages ago,’ she says. ‘Last month I ordered some really gorgeous gift tags from Graham & Green and I’m going to base my wrapping scheme around them. I’m going for a kind of Victorian Christmas vibe, with forest greens and dark reds.

‘I’ve got a few stocking fillers from Urban Outfitters, which is a great place to shop for tweens, by the way.’

Claudia has also put in the annual order for her elaborate advent calendar, which she imports from Germany at great cost and inconvenience. ‘I’m wary of peaking too soon,’ she adds.

‘Right now I’m letting myself look for festive linen sets and novelty pyjamas for my children online. Then it will die down for a bit while I concentrate on Halloween and Bonfire Night. Esther avoids panic – and waste-of-money panic buys – by having a sensible list of gifts ready well ahead of time (stock image used)

‘Come December I will rev up again to a fever pitch with all the baking and decorating — I’m thinking a lot of fresh eucalyptus and real holly.’

She bakes her own Christmas cake using an old family recipe, and makes her own Christmas pudding on Stir-Up Sunday (the last Sunday before Advent).

Claudia and I talk quite a lot about why we both obsess over Christmas. She loves the season generally. Like me, she doesn’t love summer (too hot, too aimless), and sees everything to do with Christmas as a celebration of winter itself. 

‘That’s what people who make fun of us don’t understand,’ she says. ‘Christmas is our Glastonbury.’

As for me, I know from experience that Christmas doesn’t happen out of nowhere. Even if you have a helpful husband, someone has to be in charge — and that’s me.

While I want to have a magical Christmas, I also want to enjoy the lead-up to it, and that time is busy enough as it is, with deadlines, parties and school events, without a load of basic Christmas admin piled on top.

I don’t want to be scouring the High Street in the drizzle because it’s Christmas jumper day at school tomorrow and last year’s no longer fit, when I could be sitting down to my annual The Lord Of The Rings trilogy re-watch. Next on Esther’s list is opening the Christmas Box this weekend. She’ll do a stock-take of what the family has got left over in terms of wrapping paper, cards and ribbon

(So, yes, I have already sorted the kids’ Christmas jumpers: one skiing polar bear and one Snoopy in a Father Christmas hat.)

Sometimes, as a mum, it can feel like you spend a lot of time thinking about other people and nobody is really thinking about you. 

By being over-prepared for Christmas, I am thinking about myself, for a change. I’m passing on the greatest gift to my future self that I possibly can: time.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get back to those lists.


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