Dan Morris: Easter eggs already? Too early for this sugar rush

I don't know about everyone else, but with Christmas and the festive season now out of the way for another year, I'm delighted to be getting back to a normal routine.

Forgetting what day it is and simply not knowing whether you're coming or going is the greatest bane of Yuletide, and as fun as the excessive gluttony, gift giving and merriment of December are, when January rolls round I breathe something of a sizeable sigh of relief that both the world and my body clock are back to normal. The spring is a sweet spot, in this regard, between incredibly pleasurable but ultimately disruptive calendar festivities. We therefore do not need to rush into Easter as soon as the Advent calendars are thrown out, and so, I maintain, the world has gone mad.

Debate over the arrival of Easter eggs on the supermarket shelves before New Year's Eve had even reared its head hit national radio this week. On the breakfast show of a certain station that rhymes with shmee-bee-shmee-smadio-shmoo (other superb wake-up programmes are indeed available), the presenter was as outraged as me that these chocolatey orbs of deliciousness had been rushed into retailers.

As my previous sentence should confirm, I love me an Easter egg. But not in January, and certainly not before December 31.

Aside from their religious significance, Christmas and Easter (and all the joys therein) represent something to look forward to – a treat to function as a pick-me-up when daily life through the year begins to feel pressured or at least monotonous. Rushing into either one dilutes them and takes away the magic.

I remember reading a news story a couple of years ago about a bloke who celebrated Christmas every day, wrapping himself gifts and even cooking himself a full-blown turkey dinner. 

I'm a firm believer that, within the bounds of the law, people should do what makes them happy. But the thought of December 25 simply feeling like any other day seems a little sad, and surely this is the situation that said gentleman has created for himself.

If I started chomping down on Easter eggs as soon as Auld Lang Syne had finished down the pub, I would be the shape of an Easter egg and also very bored of them by the time the appropriate moment for their consumption rolled round.

It's perhaps important at this point to acknowledge what some people may consider to be my own hypocrisy. 

Only a few weeks ago I did begin to spearhead a campaign to keep pigs in blankets on our plates all year round. But this is a bit different. First and foremost, their deliciousness transcends seasonal roadblocks (they are the exception that proves the rule, if you will). 

And while many of us enjoy them at Christmas, they are not quite a symbol of the season in the same way chocolate eggs are come March/April.

I will however concede that when Christmas wraps up, a lot of us do need/want a lift. A friend of my pop always made sure that the first thing he did when returning to work after his summer holiday was to book another break. When festivities and good times are done, we do need something to look forward to and keep us going.

January can, in my opinion, often be a bit too much about hard work and abstinence. Many people will be banning themselves from the booze until February and hitting the gym for the first time in a year with ruthless abandon. I can't criticise anyone for doing this – indeed, good on you. But I think it's important to leave yourself with something.

After two straight weeks of some of the most fabulous pork pies I have ever consumed, I will be watching my culinary intake by returning to my staple (and gruelling) fried chicken and pizza diet, so as a treat for the hard days I'm going to allow myself the occasional kebab. I'd have made a superb monk, truly.

Whatever your position on the Great Easter Egg Rush of 2025, I hope that January is kind to you, and that you are kind to yourselves during it. 

To echo the immortal John Travolta – and the superb Nora Ephron film, Michael – when all is said and done, you never really can have too much sugar.