I didn’t have any specific wish for Christmas. I know some of us spend a lot of time pondering on the “All I want for Christmas”-list – but really, for me this was no priority. I enjoyed giving and receiving, and a day of rest.

So surely it is only fair that I wish to spend my non-used Christmas wish on the New Year. All I want for 2012… It is simple, it is one thing. I want a decent housekeeper. With the thousands of people out there apparently unemployed and wishing for a job, surely there is one woman who wants to come and take care of the nitty-gritty details of running my household.

I wish for someone kind and wise, who instinctively knows what brand of floor polish or window-cleaner I should get out of the myriad of choices on the shop shelf. I wish for someone who can sew on a button, fix a hem and knows where the plasters are when needed. The wisdom is necessary because I’d like to know when a much-needed household product is almost finished so I can add it to the shopping list, not when it was finished two days ago and the world will come to an end if I don’t rush out and go buy it immediately at great expense from the local supermarket.

Surely it is not too much to ask that my housekeeper has a rudimentary knowledge of cooking, cleaning and ironing – I don’t expect miracles. Any task can be learned – as long as there is a willingness to learn. A love of animals would be fantastic. I can understand fear if I kept a large savage brute, but my dogs are tiny, fluffy bundles of joy.

Added to my list of wants is someone who has a non-allergy to Mondays, and who actually comes in to work when the week starts. Someone who is not clock-conscious; who doesn’t spend half the day either checking her cellphone or her wristwatch to make sure that neither has stopped, and the day is in fact, not yet over.

I don’t begrudge anybody a drink now and then, but overindulgence is a no-no for me when it comes to my housekeeper. I have a sensitive nose, and cannot cope with alcohol fumes developing an individual personality and sharing my space. I also seem to find that I have a problem with someone who does not understand that my expensive collection of wines, amassed over the years, is not to be opened and drunk, with the contents replaced with water. I do happen to know the difference between red wine and tap water.

Through the years I have worked hard to earn money in order to buy beautiful things. I have travelled and collected memorabilia which means nothing to someone else, but to me, at a touch, brings back smells and sounds long-forgotten. I’d like to keep these things if possible. And I’d like someone who respects my love of stuff. Someone who doesn’t take without asking. Someone who doesn’t think because I have so much, I won’t miss anything.

And lastly, please, someone who knows the value of silence. I work in a creative field, where I need harmony and quiet around me in order to think. It may seem that I am sitting in front of my computer, doing nothing, but my mind is running a million miles per second. I cannot work when there is a constant chatter aimed at me from someone who expects me to respond.

So please, whoever is in charge of granting wishes – I’ve never wanted much. Grant me this one boon. All I want for 2012 is a housekeeper, heaven-sent, who wants to be part of my journey.