Looking for the perfect Christmas gift? It’s in the bag - Susan Morrison

A leather overnight bag was an inspired gift

The comment was, as I said, merely an aside, and I assumed he wasn’t listening. He’s what he calls an ‘efficient listener’. He knows I’m talking, but he doesn’t retain every word I say.

The comment was forgotten in the pressure of Christmas shopping, especially for him. There are only so many socks a woman can buy, you know.

Anyway, he doesn’t need socks. A year's experience at the coal-face of the washing machine tells me that respectable underwear is more of a pressing requirement, but no-one wants to see boxer shorts on Christmas day. Not even M&S ones.

I hit on the happy idea of a new overnight bag for our little jaunts away. The one he has just now is decrepit and has mould growing on it.

Earlier this year we booked into a posh hotel in Harrogate. Well, it was a special offer.

The young man on the reception desk glanced at the tatty bag and his eyebrows shot up. Well, they tried to, but I suspect botox. Apparently young men are doing it now.

There was a very nice bag advertised on the World Wide Web. Real leather. Classy.

It arrived in good time, I wrapped it and popped it under the tree. It's very good leather.

You can tell. I’d forgotten just how strong a big lump of leather can smell, even through high-grade wrapping. The entire living room reeked like a leather sofa superstore.

He kept looking at it in a worried sort of way. Rather surprisingly, he had actually heard and noted the comment about ‘something new in bed’ and feared unwrapping some sort of dominatrix gear in front of the kids on Christmas day.

As you can imagine, he was well relieved to discover a very nice overnight bag.

We have tried something new in bed. He just hadn't noticed.

I got some of that fluffy bedding. We usually go for cotton, you see. Very cosy on the colder nights.