It’s not long now until the jolly season of yuletide, when the extended family traditionally gathers together peacefully to celebrate the birth of Christ.

Nowadays, who takes any notice of tradition? It’s more often than not a season fraught with shopping for food, writing cards or racing around the shopping centre.

In fact, the stress of finding the perfect present for your loved ones or hosting Christmas dinner for family is affecting people’s health more and more, so the experts say.

Rob Wilde, a psychologist at Coventry University, says Christmas is a time of extra responsibility, and a radical shift in daily patterns. An overload of people, alcohol, food, spending and over-excited children can all contribute to increasing levels of stress, which can be passed off as tiredness or a hangover.

The Christmas roast dinner is one of the most anticipated and stressful culinary events of the year. Whether you are catering for a few guests or the entire family, timing the turkey and avoiding lumpy gravy can be a minefield.

Then there’s the heightened expectations of family togetherness. For weeks or even months, plans are being made for the special day, so that when it comes, there’s huge pressure for everyone to be happy and for relationships with rarely-seen family members to be harmonious.

So this year, why not drop the stressful jobs and just enjoy yourselves. Take time out to go and listen to the carols and don’t try to do everything on your own. Don’t expect too much – keep things simple.

I’m taking this advice myself these days, sitting back while my children organise the day – I just go along with it, and I love it!

All of us here at Lovatts wish every one of our readers a joyful Christmas and a very puzzling New Year!

Happy Christmas!