The ordering of the turkey, making of Christmas puds and mince pies, going to midnight Mass, opening stockings at first light, followed by bigger presents from under the tree, indulging in that long luncheon followed by a refreshing after-dinner walk, then warmed up leftovers on Boxing Day – all are done in a time-honoured way.

My own plans for the Redgrave tribe to ring the changes and spend the Yuletide week surrounded by snow-capped mountains, enjoying a skiing holiday, were completely thwarted by our boys because they simply couldn't contemplate things not happening in the right order. If I could have transported our entire traditional South Norfolk Christmas to the Alps lock, stock and tinsel, they might have agreed to go.

Sometimes family circumstances don't always allow for tradition. For example, my brother, who is divorced, had the pleasure of his daughter's company over Christmas last year, so this year it is his ex-wife's turn and he is instead ringing the changes with an 'adult Yuletide'.

For all the hard work it takes to pull it all together on the day, I don't think I could bear a Christmas without children. What makes it all worthwhile is the look of wonderment and joy on tiny faces when the Christmas tree lights go on for the first time or they delve into their presents to find just the thing they had asked Santa for.

As they get older, those special moments happen less often and this year we won't get to do some of the things I most enjoy in the run-up to the big day. Now all our children are past primary school age, there will be no Nativity or Christmas plays and it's unlikely we'll be able to persuade even our youngest to attend the children's Christingle service in the church.

Instead, we'll probably be moving on to some new traditions like getting the car out late on Christmas Eve to pick up tired teenagers from a raucous party.

Of course, we could beat them to it and break with tradition by sneaking out of the house ourselves for a bit of festive revelling. Not all change is bad.