I am celebrating 'Christmas' on the 21st this year. Why? Partly because the weight of expectation drives the children wild and in the past has ensured that Christmas Eve - Christmas Day has become a dreadful 24 hours. Partly because I'm an atheist, and I would far rather celebrate the turn of the year and the nights starting to get shorter.

I explained this to a tolerant and liberal Christian colleague in work, and was flabbergasted by her response. She told me I was improperly imposing my views on my children, who should be allowed (sic) to celebrate Christ's birth on the day traditionally associated with it.

I could get no traction with her when I explained that I believed celebrating a Christian Christmas would be to impose a belief system on them. No, she equated 'allowing them to make up their own minds' with, basically, following Christian norms.

I asked what a Hindu or other faith family should do. Her response was that they should follow their own faith. So there you have it, she was prepared to extend a courtesy to other faiths that she would not extend to an atheist. I was totally stunned.