Is Your Phone Taking Over Christmas?

It should be a time for family – but you’re too busy updating your Facebook status. Forget the Grinch, it’s your phone that’s stolen Christmas…

- Kristina Beanland & Lucy Cavendish

It’s 2pm on Christmas Day, and as your husband pours a glass of bubbly, you sit down to enjoy your perfectly cooked feast. It’s an idyllic scene – only, there’s one thing amiss. The table is silent… except for the beeping of text notifications, that is!

We’re a nation of phone addicts, with 79% of us confessing to texting someone in the same house. And the festive season is no different. But is this obsession ruining the family Christmas we look forward to all year? Here, writer Lucy Cavendish reveals why her house will be a phone-free zone this yuletide...

‘We barely said a word to each other’

Lucy Cavendish, 51, lives in London with her husband, nick, and her children, Raymond, 21, Leonard, 14, Jerry, 13, and ottoline, 10.