Please indulge me a little. I am a (very) amateur poet and here is something I wrote last year about Christmas and mental health.

Is the Christmas tree straight,

Or does it have a lean?

I’m going to “count to ten”

I think I’m going to scream!

I haven’t got the must-have toy

For my little girl.

That pink and blue fairy thing,

That flies and does a twirl.

It will spoil her day,

If it’s not under the tree.

Why do these things

Always happen to me?

I won’t be a good parent

If it’s not in Santa’s sack

It’s getting to me now

I’m starting to crack!

‘Tis the season of love,

Peace and joy,

That we have now pawned

For the latest toy.

It’s sold out in the stores,

Can’t be found online.

These things always happen to me

Every Christmas time!

Christmas seems to be

About splashing the wealth.

Not about protecting

Your mental health!

Hoping the family

Will actually get on.

The in-laws won’t point out

All the things that are wrong!

The Christmas jumpers

That are, quite frankly, naff.

Help hide the sorrows

That are behind your laugh!

Defrosting the turkey

With a hair drier at dawn.

Try to keep up your spirits

When you’re feeling forlorn.

Making sure the sprouts

Don’t become green mush.

The only thing that keeps you going

Is the adrenaline rush!

Plus, the couple of sherries

The gin and the wine.

No time to relax

At Christmas time.

Trying to be happy,

When the carol singers call;

When all you want to do

Is curl up in a ball.

The Christmas jokes

The frantic board game

You slowly feel

You are going insane.

There’s wrapping paper on the floor

The kitchen is a mess.

Your starting to succumb

To all this stress.

A modern-day Christmas

Of the commercial kind

Is not good for your head

It fractures the mind.

So, let’s slow this down,

Wind back the clocks

Take away the novelty ties

And the Christmas socks.

Strip away the commerce

The glamour and the glitz

Put aside all those things

That gets you to the end of your wits.

Let us get back to

What Christmas really means

It’s not about presents

Or material dreams.

It is about beginnings

It is about listening to your heart

Sharing with friends and family

Is always a good place to start.

Christmas is about hope

And the giving of our selves

It is not about grottos

Or cavorting elves

It is all about being there

Supporting one another

Standing hand in hand

Every sister, every brother

Christmas should be joyful

Love and joy replenish our tanks.

We shouldn’t allow the draining of funds

From our well-being and emotional banks!