In preparation.

I'm at the stage now where I've had lots of bags hanging around the spare room, stuffed full of items that are set to be gifts for various people. I use the big bed to spread the gifts out and allocate them to their various recipients in little piles. That's not to say that each member of our family gets a box full of gifts from us, but that there's often one or two rather than one 'main' gift. It's a very useful overview for me. I can see what I've got which means that I can easily tell whether I need to get anything else. I can also get a sense of whether I've bought enough wrapping paper! 
I've been doing it this way for as long as we've lived in this house. Miss Dunnit, now 25-and-a-half was 18 months when we moved here. So I' thinking, it's an annual routine by now. And I beg you to agree.I asked Mr Dunnit to add a bottle of rather tasty gin to 'the big bed' rather than walk past it on the stairs as he went up yesterday. This is my bedside table last night.

Is it me?! I don't know which worries me more - that he's over protected from the whole present planning and wrapping thing, or that he thinks I want a bottle of gin at my bedside!

In his defence, he did seem rather embarrassed that he'd made such a mistake, (and it IS a mistake), but he laughed hard and long over my slightly offended and exasperated reaction. And now we're thinking hmmm, should we really give this one away.....!