‘TWAS the night before Christmas, and all through the house, a north wind was blowing because the patio windows were stuck fast in open.

I’m obviously using some poetic licence here, with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore. It was actually Christmas Eve Eve (and possibly an extra Eve) when my in-laws’ French windows gave up the ghost, resisting the efforts of both pensioners and even defying Kirstie power (I face making Christmas dinner with a very sore shoulder).

I called our friendly locksmith, who thankfully was still on call. “Why does this always happen just before Christmas?” I wailed. “Everyone asks that,” he replied.

We pondered the inescapable fact that Christmas is, in reality, just another day. Locksmiths - like midwives, funeral directors, plumbers and plenty of other professions - are wise to the fact that the things that happen on any other day of the year are every bit as likely to occur on any given day during the festive season. Do they know it’s Christmas? Nope.

This would explain why Daughter had a blocked ear thanks to a stinking cold (which I fear she has given to me). And why the lady behind the counter in the Co-op had a broken loo in a house she was trying to sell.

And, again, why our chimney decided to leak during the horizontal rain a few weeks ago, leading to a persistent drip through the living room ceiling, right above the comfiest sofa. Fortunately, our prayers for dry weather were answered. White Christmas? No thanks.

The worry, of course, is that when disaster befalls at Christmas, it can be the devil’s own job to find anyone to fix it because they all clocked off for two weeks on December 20.

Similarly, knowing most shops will be shut for 24 hours fills us with existential dread. I spent a couple of hours clearing shelves and dumping out-of-date snacks and condiments in the food recycling. Most were purchased this time last year, and were instantly replaced with this year’s booty.

However organised I think I am, I will invariably think of something essential – redcurrant jelly, allspice, an extra box of mince pies - at 11.55am on Christmas Eve and tear over to Waitrose in the blind hope it’s a) still open and b) hasn’t sold out.

We pin a lot on these special days, and don’t appreciate nature/fate interrupting our best-laid plans. A pre-Christmas shopping trip to Falmouth almost ended prematurely in tears when Daughter’s favourite shop was closed due to illness.

My own tears were reserved for It’s A Wonderful Life on the big screen at The Poly – I might have had something in my eye - and Daughter reprimanded me several times for booing Old Man Potter, an archetypal pantimime villain if ever there was one.

Of course, nice things happen too. It wasn’t just Jesus who was born on Christmas Day. Around 1,400 babies are likely to pop out on each of the bank holidays. They are bottom of the birth rate league tables, but only because C-sections aren’t scheduled for these days (in the USA, Thanksgiving and July 4 are equally sacrosanct).

Now Christmas is over, our thoughts turn to New Year. The ancient Roman god Janus is depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions, towards the past and future. This is the time to consider doing things better next year.

The Behavioural Insight Team (BIT) – aka the “nudge unit” – was set up by the UK government in 2010 to find subliminal ways of tackling problems like getting people to pay their taxes on time, helping them find employment or cutting down antibiotic usage. It became independent in 2014, and has a few words of advice today on how to make your New Year resolutions stick, in the hope the success rate will improve from its current figure – a measly nine per cent.

The key obstacle, it explains, is the world around us. For example, it’s hard to cut down your sugar intake when your purchasing environment is crammed with psychological cues designed to part us from our cash – such as fancy packaging and BOGOFs - with nary a thought for diabetes or blood pressure. That’s before you’ve taken into account the buying habits that make our lives easier.

The trick is to insert friction into the process. Stick to a list when you go shopping, to avoid buying too many treats.

Want to reduce your screen time? Switch off the push notifications that make you pick up your phone. Looking to save money? Delete saved card details from your phone - entering them manually will buy you time to reconsider your purchases.

My own tip: beware of setting the bar too high. Start small, and achieving those goals will spur you onto the next level. Good luck, and a very Happy New Year to you all.