WELL it took weeks to sort but in the end was over in a matter of minutes.

Christmas came and went in a whirlwind blur but at the end of it was a very spoilt and, in truth, slightly bemused child, wondering why everyone was throwing presents at him like lunatics.

He definitely got it all a bit more this year. After weeks of talking about Father Christmas I think he was slightly weary of exactly what this jolly old man with a white beard was going to do to him when he appeared down the chimney, which we don’t have.

The night before we did the whole putting the stocking out thing complete with a carrot, glass of milk and a beer – apparently this is Santa Claus’ tipple of choice this year.

Morning came and he and I crept downstairs to see if Father Christmas had come. You could almost hear Ben thinking that he better blooming well have done after all this fuss. There, he was faced with a half-eaten carrot, empty beer bottle and a note reminding him of the importance of being a good boy – I never miss an opportunity to hammer that one home.

It was then the ripping, tearing and general mayhem began. I have never seen so many presents for one so small, he didn’t know if he was coming or going. We made a pledge when he was born that we wouldn’t go mad for birthdays and Christmas, primarily because he had grandparents that would do that for us. But it appeared I had in fact gone a little bit nuts and he was inundated with all sorts of car and truck-based gifts.

By far his favourite though was a racing car helmet which he was barely able to balance on the top of his small little head. Seriously, one nudge and he would have toppled over. This precarious balancing act did not stop him running around with a steering wheel in hand looking like a mini Jenson Button. When the inevitable crash came the helmet took the brunt of the impact and he wobbled to his feet, blinked and put himself back into gear for another lap. Pretty much a perfect present right there.

■ IF THE kids are already bored with the toys and you need a little inspiration for keeping them occupied, check out dailyecho.co.uk for some festive craft ideas.

We have teamed up with our partners netmums to produce a host of activities and list events that will keep the Christmas hangover at bay.

Just log onto dailyecho.co.uk and follow the ‘families’ link.