The Bear always says he hates Christmas but I think, by that he means he objects to spending time with my family and spending money on presents.

However, he prides himself on being a dab hand at setting up lights and adds to his collection year by year. The problem is that the more strings of bulbs he acquires the more confused the task of putting them up becomes and as he is also getting slower with age the process is accompanied by an increase in grunts, groans and swearing.

This year started well with the arrival of the Christmas tree. He actually complimented Jay and me on our choice, saying it was much better than last years and he gave a hand to put it into position before finding three sets of lights to adorn it.

The problems started when he began to decorate the house. He got himself into a tangle trying to separate the many sets and then, after putting some up he found that they no longer worked. It took three days to organise his lighting and involved much climbing up and down on a step ladder and dropping of drawing pins all over the floor - and I'm still picking up spare bulbs!

The final result is quite pleasing, if a little over the top.