Louise O'Neill: How can we make Christmas more magical and more meaningful?

What would Christmas be like if we pared it back to those bare bones – one present, one meal, surrounded by those you love

Louise O'Neill, author. Photograph Moya Nolan

When I was a child, I couldn’t wait to be grown-up. It seemed like the best thing ever – you could stay up as late as you wanted, eat as many sweets as your heart desired without a parent warning you that you’d ‘ruin’ your appetite for dinner, and the curse of homework/tests would be vanquished forever.

I could never have imagined a future where voluntarily going to bed at 10pm would be a treat, or one where I still had a daily uniform and that uniform was sweat pants and an oversized dressing gown.