It may be more than six weeks away but there is no escaping the fact Christmas has landed.

Aside from the obvious retail frenzy, there are already festive films on the telly and seasonal songs on some radio stations.

As a self-confessed Christmas-holic, it is all good with me, but not so good for my husband who has to deal with my giddiness for a quarter of the year.

For many, the majority probably, November is still a little early to be ramping up the festive excitement, but it is hard to avoid it now.

Even if you are the biggest of Scrooges, I bet you have at least thought about, or even talked about, where you will be spending Christmas this year.

This is where it can all get very tricky.

Christmas family politics, for some, can be extremely stressful and take all the fun out of it.

Often, with so many different family dynamics in play, it is impossible to keep everyone happy.

If you are separated from the other parent of your children, for example, or if one of your parents has remarried and has a whole other family to consider, it can all get rather complicated.

Some of my friends are already in a right pickle about what is the best thing to do and it seems to be the same for them every year.

My family is relatively small which does have its benefits.

We alternate Christmases between my side and my husband’s side and it just about works itself out.

With the loss of my father-in-law this year, we are now an even smaller group and more likely to all come together whenever possible.

My lovely brother does not live with the mother of his kids, so it can be really hard for him too and he has had to get used to not waking up with his daughters every other Christmas morning.

Thank goodness for Boxing Day, or Christmas Day number two as it has become for many parents who only get to see their children for half the year.

The stress does not stop with who you are spending the big day itself with either.

Who is hosting it can also be a bone of contention, as many of us have our own ideas on how Christmas should be done.

I have to say, when my husband and I first had that all important conversation, I was relieved to hear his family also open their presents after dinner like we do.

That could have been a deal-breaker.

If he had said “we rip them all open at 6am” I might have called the whole thing off.

Why spoil all the fun in one moment? We like to eke it out as long as possible and even save a couple of gifts for after the turkey sandwiches at teatime.

There are many other considerations too, such as the Queen’s speech and telly viewing in general.

Some families are “strictly no television” on December 25, whereas others are “Strictly Christmas Special please, followed by all the soaps” kind of people. Whatever floats your festive boat. It is keeping the peace that is the hard bit.

A skill that needs careful honing and perfecting over the years.

There have been a couple of spectacular festive tantrums on both sides of our families on Christmas Days gone by and, sadly, one of those tantrums caused a rift that still exists to this day.

We were not directly involved, in fact we were not even there when it happened, but we still have not been invited back to that particular household since for any kind of festive celebration. What is lovely though, as parents of a small child, we now hugely enjoy establishing our own Christmas traditions.

Obviously, most of these have been nicked from our parents, who probably took them from their parents and so on, but that is how it should be.

We want our son to grow up loving our family Christmases and be excited to come home for them when he has flown the nest, just like we were.

If you are currently in difficult conversations with the family about this Christmas, try to keep a level head.

There has to be some give and take and it is absolutely impossible for every single need to be met for every single person.

What you should not do is be railroaded into a situation that will make you utterly miserable.

Maintaining family peace is one thing, but putting your own happiness in jeopardy is another thing entirely.

Keep it simple and give yourself good exit points if you need to.

Christmas is there to be enjoyed and spent with those you love, and who love you, the most. Well, that and the cheeseboard, of course.