I HAVE another apology to give. As we were heading towards the end of this difficult year I thought to myself, “at least things can’t get any worse"... Oops.

I honestly thought we were nearly home and dry. We have a handful of days left and a tight three-tier system in place to keep us healthy.

Many of the risks were gone. There were no works Christmas parties this year. That meant there were no opportunities to spread Covid or be caught in the stationery cupboard with the head of accounts. As someone who is self-employed I get to boast that I am my own boss, but it means I have to throw my own Christmas party and take myself into a store room for a snog. It’s less fun than it sounds.

I should have known better than to tempt fate in 2020. Sure enough, I was proved wrong. I promise I won’t do it again.

Christmas is all but cancelled because of the new strain of coronavirus. Our five days of Christmas have been cut to just one. The experts say we should keep those Christmas Day visits to a minimum. That will happen naturally because the weight of traffic on the 25th will probably be huge. We’ll spend most of the day trapped in our cars, which is Covid secure. Maybe that was their plan all along.

The new mutation spreads more easily. They make it sound like a margarine. It’s also fat-free with no added sugar and high in protein, but so are all viruses.

I don’t want to anthropomorphise the coronavirus, because he wouldn’t like it, but it feels like the virus heard about the vaccines and decided to up its game.

It would have been easier if the government cancelled Christmas weeks ago. It still would have been a sad situation but we wouldn’t have ordered all the extra food. At least the leftover turkey will act as a stockpile for the inevitable January lockdown.

It’s the disappointment that hurts. I once heard a radio host doing a competition to win £1,000. That sounds great, doesn’t it? In the link between the songs the presenter said, “Up next we’re giving you the chance to win one million… I mean, one thousand pounds.”

All of a sudden winning a grand seems like small change. The promise of something better ruins what we actually get. The promise of a joyful and united Christmas makes living without one even harder.

My thoughts are with you as we get through Christmas and here’s to a better 2021. Surely it couldn’t be worse than this year. Oops! I’ve done it again.