I’ve lost count of the number of articles I’ve come across suggesting Christmas was better when we were kids.

I grew up in the 1980s, and while there’s a lot to be said for the anticipation of a two-week bumper Christmas TV guide and Christmas Top of The Pops, I don’t think Christmas was better then than it is now.

5 reasons Christmas is better than it was when we were kids

There’s no doubt Christmas is better when you have kids – after all it’s only fair every member of the family gets a chocolate advent calendar, right? – but was Christmas better when we were kids?

Absolutely not!

5 reasons Christmas is better than it was when we were kids

1. Christmas jumpers. The festive knit has come a looong way since I was little, and I’m not just talking about for kids. Check out my latest number.

2. Advent calendars. Forget advent calendars with pictures in, or even chocolate. Now absolutely everything comes in an advent calendar, from Playmobil to beauty products to pork scratchings.

Playmobil advent calendar

3. You can track Santa. Need I say more? I don’t know about you but I’d have loved to have been able to log on to see how Santa was getting on when I was little. Sadly our little Amstrad with a tape cassette wasn’t quite up to it.

5 reasons Christmas is better than when we were kids

4. Elf fun. You might find yourself creeping around in the middle of the night because you forgot to move the sodding thing, and the chances are you could cheerfully throttle it by Christmas Eve, but there’s no getting away from the fact that Elf on the Shelf – or in our case Conker The Silly Elf – is fun to start off with.

Conker The Silly Elf

5. Christmas days out. I don’t mean a trip to a shopping centre where a ‘Santa’s grotto’ has been set up in a corner of the carpets section in a department store complete with dodgy beard and even dodgier presents, I mean Christmas days out that quite literally take your breath away – and the kids’. Like LaplandUK, where you’ll find magical pathways, an Elf Village and the most authentic looking Santas you’ve ever seen in your life.

Why LaplandUK is worth every single penny 6

So while there is a lot to be said for the anticipation of a two-week bumper Christmas TV guide and Christmas Top of The Pops, there’s also a lot to be said for why Christmas is better now than it was then.

What do you think? Is Christmas better now than it was when we were kids? Or do you think Christmas was better then? I’d love to know what you think!

Linking up with these fabulous blogs!