Getting Personal

                Return to sender?  How to avoid the Christmas post blues
            
                Christmas – a time for giving, receiving, and for that warm glow of goodwill generated by knowing that there is something bigger out there than ourselves – the spirit of Christmas. However, it is often the case that the giving and receiving of Christmas Gifts gets scuppered.

Established in 1660 – and with a history going back to 1516 - Royal Mail is the UK's national postal service that remains – even to this day – a company wholly owned by the British government. Royal Mail is famous around the world for its iconic red letterboxes, but it is also known – within the UK – for occasional bouts of poor-quality service and bags of mislaid post, particularly around holiday times.

So, for anyone keen to send Christmas gifts to friends and family members, it's important to make sure that they aren't stuck in the post – after all, we all know that things can go awry when extra staff are taken on during the festive season. So, what can be done to make sure that everything runs according to plan? Well, aside from shopping early and making sure you have more than enough time for things to arrive, you should also ensure that all Christmas gifts and cards are posted in accordance with the published delivery times.

But there are other ways to avoid those Christmas post blues. After all, nobody likes racing downstairs to collect a parcel, only to find that the hurriedly unwrapped Christmas gifts aren't actually all that special; buying the right Christmas gift take thought and care. Teenagers are particularly tough to buy for and they often lack the ability to mask the disappointment created by a badly judged present. I'm sure we all remember those moments where a relative went to the trouble of knitting a big chunky woollen jumper – complete with reindeer motif. Sure, the Christmas gift certainly looked exciting, but it usually went down like a lead balloon when unwrapped.

So if you're looking for some fantastic ideas for Christmas gifts, why not give them something that can really appeal to their sense of fun? For teens that absolutely love flying action heroes, how about the Flying Frog? He's fast, he's green, he's lean and he even has the ability to ribbit as he flies across the sky! Flying Chicken, Flying Monkey and Flying Pig can even join him in his adventures; they're not the likeliest, and most fearless of foursomes, but they'll certainly be able to scare the dog!

Or for teens that like to express themselves through artistic pursuits, why not make Christmas come early for them with the fantastic Create Your own Christmas Cards – Winter Wonderland Box Kit? Complete with a selection of handmade decorations, some Christmas captions, additional decorations and those all-important blank Christmas Cards, this gift will certainly get them in the Christmas spirit; all they need to do is make sure they don't get the ill-fated 'return to sender'.

Popularised by Elvis Presley, Return to Sender is a song about a man who keeps trying to send a letter to a girl. She isn't interested in reading this note, so she marks it “Return to Sender” and posts it straight back to him. However, he's pretty persistent and decides to send it special delivery, but gets it sent straight back with the same line. Eventually he resorts to posting it by hand. Perhaps if she'd received something from the Create Your own Christmas Cards – Winter Wonderland Box Kit she would have felt a little differently? It's too late to know.

Starting in 1954, the chart success of Elvis Presley has spanned a number of years, and even continues to this day. He might have died in 1977, but remixes of his songs have been released in recent years, and there have even been a number of reissues.

So, if you're looking to prevent a Blue Christmas, not to mention any Crying in the Chapel, all you need to do is make sure you avoid those Return to Sender blues!