That time of year

Living in the UAE, most of us don't need much excuse to start acting like big kids — Ski Dubai, cupcake shops and hotels built to resemble lost kingdoms all ensure that we can never quite live a serious life — but Christmas is when all the silliness culminates into a month of listening to Slade on your iPod, eating overpriced chocolates as a meal replacement and wearing baubles as earrings.

And it's because of all this silliness that we can overlook the fact that Christmas is also the most stressful time of year, whether your stress triggers are smiling through gritted teeth as you spend a week with the in-laws or spending your savings on lumps of plastic for the kids knowing fully well that the toys will lose their appeal in a matter of weeks. For me, it's the fact that I am disorganised. I have yet to buy a present or indeed think of what to get. In addition, I am in the UK and snowed in.

For many expats, the thing we look forward to the most is also the thing that ends up fraying our nerves. Family visits. Whether your family is flying in or you are flying out, you've probably been counting down the days to just be with them. It's surprising which silly things you miss — chatting with your brother about the programmes you watched as a kid or helping your mum in the kitchen.

But this close contact can also cause friction. Perhaps its family tensions or the seasonal stress but when your parents-in-law bicker over what to watch on TV or your grandmother points out that you've put on a few pounds since she last saw you, it's all too easy to be reminded of why you moved to the UAE in the first place.

When your dad regales you with stories about how Christmas was a much less consumer-based affair when he was a child, reach for another slab of gingerbread and nod along or when your kids moan that they didn't get the bike they asked Santa for, whack up the volume of The Best Christmas Album in the World Ever and attempt to drown them out for a blissful moment or two.

But, most of all, this is also the time of year we love the most. When else can we forget our work e-mails, switch off the phone and spend half the day in bed and the other half eating without guilt? This is a good mantra to recite for affirmation when your mother-in-law looks at you disapprovingly for opting for shop-bought mince pies and not the ones from that recipe she sent you. If that fails, you could always say you have flu and will probably be bedridden until she leaves.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.