The eve before Christmas is upon us.

And I hope your preparations, and big day, go OK.

Just for ‘fun-sies’ I’ve decided to share 7 unusual facts about Christmas for today’s message.

OK red suits ready? White beards to the fore? Here we go . . .

1. Ole Speedy Claws

Scientists calculated Santa would have to visit 822 homes a second to deliver all the world’s presents on Christmas Eve

(traveling at 650 miles a second).

2. The Donkey’s Best Stockings

Hanging stockings out comes from the Dutch custom of leaving shoes packed with food for St Nicholas’s donkeys. He would leave

small gifts in return.

3. X-citing news

The abbreviation Xmas isn’t actually non-religious. The letter X is a Greek abbreviation for Christ.

4. Frosty The . . . er . . . Giant

In 1999 residents of Maine, USA built the world’s biggest ever snowman. He stood at 113ft tall.

5. Pass the spoon please

Christmas pudding was originally a soup made with raisins and wine.

6. There’s only 1 Santa (isn’t there?)

There are 13 Santas in Iceland, each leaving a gift for children.They come down from the mountain one by one, starting on December

12 and have names like Spoon Licker, Door Sniffer and Meat Hook.

7. He’s still dreamin’

The best selling Xmas single ever is Bing Crosby’s White Christmas, selling over 50million copies worldwide since 1942.

And that’s a festive wrap folks. Have a great day tomorrow.

(And don’t worry I’ll even have a short festive message for you on Christmas day if you can pull yourself away from the feast!)

For more parenting tips (sometimes involving Santa!): clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=Kdjaj&m=3mS2QvOHejJlRMX&b=2dlWosXShIr1lIbsbcAPAQ

Happy Christmas Eve,

Dave Angel