What do you leave out for Santa?

It's a simple question, but one that seems to divide people. To be honest, it's not one that has ever really bothered me until I realised that Dylan seems to be starting to understand what Christmas is about. It is now a question of massive importance.

He's had the friendly lot on CBeebies kindly reminding him how many sleeps remain until the bearded one ventures down our chimney as well as a lovely advent calendar my Mum made him as daily reminders of the impending mirth. Then there are the, ahem, tasteful lights some of our neighbours have on their houses and, of course, our Christmas tree which, it's fair to say, he lost his shit over when we put it up. You know the bit in Elf where Buddy finds out that 'Santa' is coming? Yeah, it was like that.

He gets rather excited about this too...

So onto the festive preparations and we're mostly there. Kate and I found that the shopping is much more tolerable when half cut. It was great; we left Dylan and Xander with my parents, headed off to Brighton and went straight to a restaurant. Two courses and a bottle of Montepulciano later we were season-appropriately jolly and got the bulk of the gift buying done amid a warm, sozzled glow. I recommend it!

We've also had a dummy run as it were. Like most families, we're seeing one set of parents on Christmas Day and the others on Boxing Day but, as my sister inconsiderately lives in another county, we've already had one sort of Christmas in as far as we ate and drank too much and the kids got way too excited. There was only one incident that resulted in Dylan being banished to an improvised naughty corner in my parents' house. Thankfully it was Xander he slapped rather than one of his cousins. It does have to be pointed out though that his little brother was in a high chair at the time. A new level of chutzpah from the boy there.

An improvised naughty corner. With presents in it. Fail.

So back to the main point: what to leave out for old Saint Nick? I initially thought that milk, a mince pie and a carrot for the reindeer to share was the order of the day. I asked Kate what she thought and the answer was a glass of sherry. A bit posh, I reckon, but she and her family think that dustpans are called crumb trays, so that has to be taken into account. I'm going to suggest two bottles of Harvey's Star of Eastbourne, a kebab and a switched on Xbox with FIFA13 loaded. Anyone else with me on that?

Job done.

What do you leave out for Mr Claus?

Merry Christmas!