'Twas the night before Christmas...

Whether or not you choose to buy into the Santa myth, we can all believe in the positive messaging the man in red has come to represent, discovers Yasmina Floyer

When my son started school and became caught up in his first full-on Christmas, he had a question for me: 'How does Santa go to all of the houses in the world in one night?' I didn't know how to answer him. You see, I hadn't explicitly encouraged the whole Santa thing but nor had I actively discouraged it. When he asked me if Santa was real, I asked him, 'Do you think he's real?' At the time, he said 'Yes!' 'Okay,' I said. My husband and I had agreed that whilst we wouldn't reinforce the veracity of Santa, we would not challenge our - children if they expressed their belief in him. The following year brought more questions regarding the logistics of how Santa knows what each child wants. What if they don't write him a letter, he asked. Will he still know what they want? And what if someone is very naughty do they get nothing? And how does he fit it all on his sleigh, and what happens if a child asks for something and doesn't get it? And, really, how does he visit all those houses in one night?

I asked again, 'Do you believe Santa is real?" This time, he said, 'No.' And this time I confirmed that he was right. 'I knew it,' he said.

I love this time of year, I always have. As an adult with my own family, I relish the day the tree goes up, the scent of pine infusing the house with nostalgia. I handmade my children's stockings, and I stay up late into the night on Christmas Eve filling them with treats. The following day, I prepare a roast as Wham! and Mariah Carey keep me company in the kitchen.

But perhaps what you might not expect is that this is all fairly new to me. I grew up in a Muslim household, so as a family, we didn't celebrate Christmas although as I grew older, I strung tinsel along the shelves in my bedroom, displayed my cards, and exchanged gifts with friends.