Kerre Woodham: Thanks to all who keep the Xmas spirit alive

Can anything beat Christmas in terms of pure enjoyment?

As a child I can remember falling into bed after the magic of midnight Mass and thinking that this year, I'd spot Santa. I would lie there like a possum in the headlights, willing myself to stay awake, and the next thing I knew, it was the early hours of Christmas morning, and I'd have woken to the sound of paper-wrapped parcels rustling at the foot of the bed, in the special Christmas pillowcase.

Oh, the excitement. Racing into my brother's room, and then waking up Mum and Dad far too early, to show them the spoils - it was brilliant.

We knew it was Santa, and not our parents, because the reindeer had eaten the grass I'd left for them, and drunk all the water, and the beer and Christmas cake by the fireplace was gone. Absolute proof, as if any were needed.

A lot of parents are willing to go the extra mile to enable their kids to hold on to the magic for as long as they can. One woman told me she cuts out Santa boot prints from cardboard, dusts them with flour and tracks them from the chimney to the tree. Another recorded sounds of horses' hooves and bells and played them outside the eight-year-old's window. The young man's wavering belief in Santa was shored up for another year.

Possibly the only thing better than being a kid at Christmas is being a parent with kids. To be one of Santa's myriad of helpers is a true blessing and a privilege. To pass on Christmas traditions that have been in your family for years, and then creating a few special rites of your own, gives a wonderful sense of continuity.

If you're starting to get a bit cynical about Christmas, if your skin crawls every time you hear Feliz Navidad on the radio and you're furious about the delays on Franklin Rd thanks to the rubberneckers from the suburbs coming to look at the lights, might I respectfully suggest that it's time you had children. Or that you spent more time with your nieces and nephews. Or that you get out of your European car and head down to the nearest charity organisation and volunteer to spend time on Christmas Day helping spread the magic among children. Then you'll get the point again.

For many families, this is a really difficult time of year. If you're short of money, or you're on your own, the Christmas break can be an emotional wasteland.

Thankfully, however, Christmas still seems to bring out the best in most people and many are willing to give their time and money to alleviate some of the despair. Just witness the volunteers who turned up to help at the City Mission yesterday, and indeed all the other special parties put on around the country. It took hundreds of kind souls and thousands of dollars of donations to enable these Christmases to take place.

For many people, Christmas goodwill extends beyond the front door of their own home so I'd like to send a special Christmas wish to all those who helped make Christmas a wonderful day for complete strangers.

I'd also like to send my warmest wishes to all those who had to work yesterday. In my days as a junior woodchuck reporter, I used to be the one who had to work Christmas Day. And although it wasn't too bad for me - I generally went home after reading the midday news, so at least I had half the day with my family and friends - many people, including the police, hospital staff, airline crews and Women's Refuge workers, were on duty the whole day. So thank you very much for being there for the rest of us.

And to those poor police officers who were abused by drivers caught in the traffic jam after that horrific crash at Matangi, a special thank you to you. It's a hard enough job at the best of times, but to be abused by people who were more concerned about being held up on the roads than the human tragedy of two lost lives would make for a particularly bad day.

Merry Christmas to you all.