Little Chap claims Winter is his favourite time of year. He has a winter birthday, which might have something to do with his choice and there’s Christmas too, of course. What five-year old kid can ignore the charms and excitement of that?

I have to beg to disagree. I prefer the optimism of Spring. The fresh start, the prettiest flowers bursting from their little buds, the magical renewal of nature. Not for me the cold, damp, too short days of winter, the soggy piles of leaves in my garden that frown at me for not making the time to clear them away. Don’t get me wrong. There’s plenty to like about Winter, coming inside to warm cosiness (preferably provided by a roaring fire) after time spent in the bitter bone-numbing cold outside for one, the sparkle and glitter of Christmas for another.

We usually postpone Christmas preparations and getting into the festive spirit until after little Chap’s birthday later this month. Apart from anything else, I just can’t bring myself to buy his Christmas present before I buy his birthday gift! However, we broke our “no festivities before 1 December” rule yesterday, with a trip to the West End Vue cinema where we had been invited to watch the new movie from Warner Bros, Get Santa at a special screening for bloggers and their families.

Get Santa is a heart-warming and funny family adventure about a father and son reconnecting to discover the magic of Christmas. It stars the wonderful Jim Broadbent as Santa who is joined by a cast of British favourites including Rafe Spall, Jodie Whitaker and Warwick Davis, Ewen Bremner and Joanna Scanlon. Ridley Scott of Alien fame executive produced the film which is released from Friday 5 December, so keep that weekend free and look out for your local cinema programmes. Until then, here’s a little taste of the family fun to come.

Now, where did I hide that gift wrap…?