The cost of Christmas is often too high

In reality, for many people today will be spent in a mad frenzy of panic buying, jostling with crowds of islanders looking for anything that will suffice for that hard-to-buy-for uncle or aunt.

It may be too expensive, it may not even be suitable, but the imperative to buy something before it is too late is impossible to ignore.

Meanwhile, the last trimmings of the turkey dinner are fast disappearing from the shelves.

For the less well-organised, Christmas Eve is a frantic day. It can also be expensive.

Citizens Advice Guernsey know all too well that this time of year is difficult for many families, who lurch further into debt as the presents, parties and food bills mount up.

That hardship is increasing. The arms race of present buying means that children are no longer satisfied with a doll or toy truck, they want the latest gadgetry ‘like all my friends’.

And that costs serious money. Whether it is a new smart phone, games console or tablet computer the price is in the hundreds if not thousands.

The head says it is too much, the heart holds a different view.

If the latter wins out it will be a long and difficult January waiting for a pay day that never seems to come.

The advice of Citizens Advice is not to leave it too long. If your family finances are in a mess seek help. There is no point in hoping for a miracle, those lottery tickets have all been checked.

It is a strange state of affairs. Christmas was not meant to place such strain on families. It should be a time that people come together in happiness, not to grin and bear an unacceptable cost.

After the Christmas crackers have been swept up and the wrapping paper recycled it is perhaps time to reflect on what everybody, including children, really want out of this special time.

It has to be more than the latest electronic gizmo, soon to lie abandoned in a corner as its place is taken by the next must-have present.