story: I spent my first Christmas Eve as a parent in A&E, tending to my then seven-month-old child, who had fallen from the bed to the floor as I sat wrapping her father’s presents. After several hours sitting in the less-than-festive surroundings of St Thomas’ Hospital, we discovered that she was, thankfully, fine. But as a result, the fun-packed evening we had planned of champagne and charades was a definite no-go. But I learnt an invaluable lesson that night: you may have
