Tis the season of gifts from hell — and the fine art of receiving them with grace

Even if we don't play poker, most of us would admit to having a game face, that neutral configuration of expression designed to give away absolutely nothing about what we really feel.

- BY LAURA CRAIK

I assume it every time someone serves me parsnips. No odiously flavoured root vegetable is worthy of the 43 muscles that it takes to frown.But while you may give good game face, at this time of year it's worth practising your gift face, too. Gift face is far harder to effect, namely because it's not neutral. Rather than conveying nothing, a good gift face must convey a phalanx of positive emotions, like in Love Actually, when Keira Knightley turned up at Andrew Lincoln's doorstep bearing banoffee pie. The eyes should sparkle. The eyebrows should lift. The lips should part slowly to reveal awe at the giver's kindness, before widening into a smile so heartfelt, so joyful that anyone present would be forgiven for thinking you'd just unwrapped the dad from the John Lewis ad, instead of the sweater debobbler that actually confronts you.

You don't get to make it through too many Christmases without needing a good gift face. As a child, you were given scratchy knits and underwear offering dull practicalities that most definitely weren't on your Christmas list. Too young and guileless to pretend, you'd give a polite "thanks" before moving on swiftly to the next present.