The 12 Days of (Pre)Christmas: You Know it’s Christmas When…

Officially, the 12 days of Christmas begin on Christmas day itself. But why wait until the big day to start the celebrations?

Take a look around and you’ll clearly see things are already in full swing. In fact, Christmas has a habit of kicking-off earlier with each passing year. Nevertheless, we all have our unique signs and indicators that for us, personally, Christmas has officially begun.

If you’re anything like us, you’ll know Christmas is just around the corner when:

1. Christmas songs aren’t just being played everywhere, they’re stuck in your head day and night. Even the tunes you’re not the biggest fan of have somehow found their way into your heart and soul.

2. You start picking up those quintessential festive fragrances, wherever you go. Mulled wine, gingerbread, the fresh scent of pine – all indicative of something special in the days and weeks to come.

3. Every retailer on the face of the earth begins capitalising on the festive season with all manner of weird and wonderful ‘sales’. Most of which are accompanied by questionable Christmas marketing materials, which if nothing else can be quite amusing!

4. Shopping for even a few groceries suddenly becomes an epic outing, during which you’ll be pitted against hundreds (or even thousands) of bargain-crazed shoppers.

5. You find yourself using the festive season as the perfect excuse to gorge on the kinds of treats and goodies you couldn’t normally justify. Your diet is instinctively put on hold until the New Year.

6. Speaking of which, you subconsciously find yourself thinking about all the things you intend to do to improve your life next year. None of which you’re likely to stick to, but still – nothing wrong with good intentions!

7. You have to time every trip with strategic precision, in order to avoid getting caught in Christmas congestion on the roads.

8. The official office Christmas party has been confirmed and you’re desperately looking for an excuse not to go. Lest you overdo the sherry and once again make an example of yourself in front of your boss!

9. You’re not the type to jump on the bandwagon, but for some reason find yourself compelled to find the tackiest Christmas jumper you can. In doing so, you also suddenly find yourself in all manner of charity shops you didn’t previously know existed.

10. The office becomes a dieter’s worst enemy, as each and every employee brings a cavalcade of treats from home to share liberally. But as you’re already using Christmas as an excuse, it’s not as if you care!

11. Movies you wouldn’t even consider watching throughout the rest of the year suddenly become the only thing you want to watch. Die Hard, Home Alone, Trading Places, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation - your favourite films for the next few weeks at least.

12. You secretly find yourself praying for a sudden seasonal blizzard, despite the fact that it will make your life exponentially more difficult if it lands.

Anything we’ve missed? Contact the team at Elfi and let us know your favourite signs of Christmas! Or why not see if you could get a letter sent from Santa to tell you what he thinks!