The Christmas morning Panda: two matching pairs, zero slips

25 December, 7:02 am. The first present opened is always the smallest one, because it's the closest. Inside, a green box with a smiling panda. Inside the box, two soft socks shaped like a panda's face, with black ears.

Sofia, six, puts them on straight away. Then she runs to the kitchen, comes back to the living room, tries a test slide on the wooden floor and doesn't slip. She's disappointed for two seconds, then she gets it: they're non-slip. She can run anywhere.

Mum opens her present. Same panda, adult size. She puts them on too. All morning they wander around the house as a pair, one small and one big, like two pandas who found their bamboo forest among the wrapping paper.

In the evening Sofia won't take them off for bed. Negotiations begin: socks yes, but only if she brushes her teeth. Deal. Mum thinks the best gift of the year came from her sister, and it barely cost a thing.

IRONIKS non-slip socks come in adult and kids' sizes, in lots of different animals and in gift-ready packaging. In shops they work as an impulse buy, especially at Christmas.