THAT'S A WRAP People brand present-mad mum ‘selfish’ and ‘disgusting’ over pile of gifts so big you can barely see the Christmas tree.

A MUM who has bought so many presents you can barely see her Christmas tree has been branded ‘disgusting’ and told to donate some. Emma Tapping, from the Isle of Man, is known for her over-the-top pile of gifts, spending months stockpiling presents. She buys hundreds of gifts for her kids costing thousands and has even appeared on a Channel 5 documentary Xmas Excess: Parents Splash The Cash. Photos of her mountain of presents swamping the Christmas tree go viral and this year it's no different.

A TIME FOR GIVING Teacher’s touching Christmas present from schoolgirl who ‘had nothing to give’.

A TEACHER received a heartwarming gift from a pupil a bag of marshmallows as she had "nothing to give".Rachel Uretsky-Pratt, 24, a third-grade teacher at a school in Washington, USA, posted an image of the little bag of treats which had been carefully picked out from the pupil's Lucky Charm cereal. The school Rachel works at provides its pupils with free breakfasts and free or reduced-price lunches.

How to keep the kids safe online with those techy Christmas gifts.

CHILDREN across the country will unwrap a vast range of electronic gifts this Christmas raising a fresh wave of safety concerns for parents. Ghislaine Bambusa, head of the digital for Internet Matters, a non-profit organisation set up by the UK's leading internet service providers to improve children's safety online, has some tips to help them.

ON AIR EMERGENCY Iain Lee ‘overwhelmed’ with support after saving man who revealed suicide bid live on air.

IAIN Lee says he’s been “overwhelmed” with support after he saved a man’s hostess live on TalkRadio.The caller, known only as Chris, phoned in and told Iain he had taken an overdose and was lying in the street dying. Iain, 45, kept the man on the phone and talked to him for 30 minutes while paramedics rushed to help him. Chris was eventually discovered by a police officer who had been given a location and description of the man by Iain's producer.

Man trolls his mum each year with his personalised Christmas card after she asked him to ‘sober up’.

Sending your own personalized Christmas cards is a nice idea, but sometimes it can be tricky to come up with something original.

New Jersey Athlete Forced to Cut His Long Dreadlocks, Spark Racist Debates; people Share the Importance of Their Hair.

A video of a New Jersey wrestler who was forced to cut off his dreadlocks minutes before his match after a referee refused to let him compete with a helmet has drawn much anger on social media platforms. 

Expert tips for parents who discover that their teenager drinks alcohol.

Dr Gerry McCarney is a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist. The HSE booklet, Alcohol and Drugs: A Parents’ Guide www.askaboutalcohol.ie also contains information on what to do if you think your child is taking drugs, how to handle resistance, your guide to parties, building resilience and handling emergency situations. ALCOHOL IS SO normalised in our society that we sometimes forget that supplying alcohol to someone under 18 without their parents’ permission is against the law. Christmas or not, giving drink to children is not just against the law it’s damaging to their developing bodies and brains. 

Mind yourself this Christmas: How to care for your mental health during the festive period.

CHRISTMAS TIME CAN be an incredibly stressful time for many people. Between the family members you only see once a year, the financial pressures and the feeling that you have too much to do and not enough time to do it in, December can be a particularly difficult time. It’s not unusual for someone living with a mental health condition to feel a bit overwhelmed by the festivities. It’s also not all that unusual for people without one to feel overwhelmed either.

No one would want to touch or eat faeces, but we do that by not washing our hands properly'.

This means using soap and water at home and alcohol gel in hospitals and clinics. The HSE said some people are washing their hands insufficiently, missing areas like the tips of their fingers. Professor Martin Cormican, HSE National Lead for Antibiotic Resistance, said: “Things that look clean often have billions of bacteria and viruses so you can pick them up from touching most surfaces.“It is really important that you clean your hands well with soap and water and then dry them on a paper (or clean) towel.

Shane Dunphy: The Irish state is a very bad parent when its children turn 18 they often end up on the streets.

Shane Dunphy is a child protection expert, author and broadcaster. He is Head of the Social Studies Department at Waterford College of Further Education. The first time I met James* it was at the beginning of the Christmas season, and he was being thrown out of a pub for causing a disturbance. He had arrived early that evening and had already consumed more than was good for him as the first of the work parties were coming in for their seasonal festivities.