"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas," goes the song. And by golly it really is.

For a start, the smaller Dixons have started singing that very song at every mealtime (and indeed at every other possible opportunity), in a variety of silly voices, with the clear intention of driving their parents demented long before the festive day.

Or maybe the idea is to force us into Argos, who have appropriated the 1951 Perry Como* hit for their Crimbo marketing campaign. There, the youngsters hope, we will spend what little is left of our hard-earned cash on unseaonably violent video games, fairy castles made of purple plastic and craft sets that get used once and then lost at the back of the toy cupboard.

Bah, humbug, you may say. And you may well be right.

If more proof were needed that festive frolics will soon be upon us, the sub-editors at Chronicle Towers have embarked on a marathon mince pie taste testing session, leaving the entire office whiffing subtly of mixed fruit and shortcrust pastry.

And just to ram it home, the carol singers were out and about in Weston last night, although describing what they were doing with their voices as "singing" would be stretching the definition almost to breaking point.

But the thing to make you feel really Christmassy, right down to the tips of your toes, is a good old-fashioned school Nativity play.

St Andrew's Primary was where Year 1 and Year 6, including young Miss D, got in on the act early this year and staged their show at the egg theatre last Tuesday.

It was better than good from start to finish, but it definitely wasn't old-fashioned.

Joseph was a harassed dad, Mary was a serial shopper. Their older children opened the show arguing about whose turn it was on the Xbox.

The shepherds were transformed into three hoodies, who did their best to act tough but ended up helping old ladies across the road.

The Three Kings became two Sainsbury's delivery drivers, bringing not gold, frankincense and myrrh but nappies, cream and baby toys.

There was a TV crew with newsreader, weather forecaster and camera operator, a taxi driver and a hotel manager. Even Mary's mum put in an appearance.

King Herod was "Big H", with a gang of Mafiosi-style gangsters in sunglasses and dark suits backing him up and trying to get the hoodies into even more trouble.

The Year 1 children excelled themselves, together portraying a tornado with uncanny accuracy as they whirled across the stage going "wooo-eeee-oooo" at various appropriate moments in the story.

The Angel Gabriel became a fortune teller, who foresaw the holy birth in Mary's tea leaves and was disbelieved right up to the moment of the happy event.

And what an event it was. Live on stage, with just a sheet round his waist to protect his modesty, a very cheeky-looking "baby" popped his head out from between Mary's legs, had a good look at the world, and settled down for a nap. It brought the house down.

And if for a moment you entertain the thought that this was a hip, "PC", non-religious retelling of the nativity story then you'd be downright wrong. Because the vicar was there, and he was laughing along with the rest of us.

There was professional help with lighting from the crew at the egg, but the children and teachers did most of the work. They wrote the script, they made the props, they assembled the costumes and as the comedy snow fell from the balcony, they took the applause.

The most important thing about the show was that these talented young performers will carry the memory of their fantastic achievement with them long after the Christmas toys are broken and discarded. And so too will their parents.

*Or possibly one of the versions by Bing Crosby or Johnny Mathis. Not even Wikipedia seems to know.