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Original poster

So if Christmas is no mixing of households indoors

249 replies

RunBackwards · 25/10/2020 20:00

What will you do?

We usually have the four of us (two young adult sons) my parents and my sister and her family (two teens). TBH as the children have got older it's been hard enough to make the day special/different to any other day but if it's just the four of us I can't see it being much different to today.

What do you have planned?

Will you comply with the no mixing of households. It's already in play here, although my sister is in another area where it's not. My parents are being very compliant, although my FB feed suggests most of people aren't.

OP posts:
Sweetchillijam · 25/10/2020 21:50

Since we had the DC now teens we have spent christmas on our own just the four of us and its always been lovely and relaxed. In our own house don’t have to get dressed up if we don’t want to, don’t have to make small talk, room for everyone to sit down comfortably or skulk upstairs if they want to etc. Have a big breakfast, nice christmas lunch, watch films, play board games, nice walk, eat chocolate, phone family etc. We will just do the same this year.

UnsolvedTheory · 25/10/2020 21:51

Our original plan was Christmas Day with my family (9 of us from 4 households), then Boxing Day with in-laws (10 of us from 4 households).
But now the four of us will stay at home by ourselves instead (I suspect some of the family will break the rules and still meet even if it's no mixing, but that's up to them). I'm quite looking forward to a low-key relaxed Christmas this time. Smile

Itchybush · 25/10/2020 21:55

I've booked tickets to Greece to go and spend Christmas with the dcs last surviving grandparent. No idea if we'll actually be able to go though.

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DinosApple · 25/10/2020 21:57

It'll be me, DH, 2 DC and BIL.
MlL died from care home Covid in May, so we're still being careful.

Normally there'd be 10-12 round my mum and dad's table on Boxing day, but not this year.

BellaBella84 · 25/10/2020 21:58

@Littlepond That actually sounds quite lovely!

@CovidNightmare I am so so sorry for your loss. And as if this wasn't hard enough, there's the forms and the banks and the arrangements. There's a what on earth do I do now guide on age uk web site. Delegate where you can, and find a quite place everyday where you can grieve and feel angry or just sit there with your memories. The bathroom is good. ❤️

Graffitiqueen · 25/10/2020 22:00

My parents provide childcare for us so if one of us has covid we will all get it anyway so we will be having a meal together on Christmas Day.

wonderstuff · 25/10/2020 22:00

We might be us 4, we might see dbil family which would make us 7. Rate infection is going I suspect it will be the former. We've never done outdoor decorations before but we're going to do some this year, people in the village encouraging a but of a trail for the little ones. We've also bought quite expensive advent calendars which again I'd never normally do, but think we'll need cheering up.

It won't be forever.

ragged · 25/10/2020 22:01

My family are the other side of 2 x 2 week quarantines so we won't meet.

DH's elderly relatives want him to visit now or soon (against rules).
We reckon everyone will be in Tier4 for Xmas so no point in making plans for 25 Dec.

Storyofcats · 25/10/2020 22:01

I've not broken any rules since march but I think if the rules are still in place I'll have to visit my parents anyway. I'd be willing to try and ride it out but my mum is really struggling with it all and quite depressed. They don't live near enough for an outside meetup or I'd try and do that. I'd isolate before seeing them and have already had covid myself so hoping I have a degree of protection.

frugalkitty · 25/10/2020 22:09

We'll abide by whatever the rules are at the time. To be honest, I can't see us (5) going to my parents for tea this year as normal as my Dad is on the verge of needing to go into a care home and I don't think they'd cope with us there (my eldest brother and his wife are usually there too but she's been shielding so that's a no no anyway). Boxing Day we usually have 15 here but that can't happen this year. DH's sister usually stays at some point which she could still do as that would make six in our house, but his folks have been shielding do she may not want to come here if there's not enough time to quarantine 'just in case' when she goes back. It's crap, but hopefully it's just one year and our kids are old enough to understand why it needs to be different.

rainkeepsfallingdown · 25/10/2020 22:10

@RunBackwards

Theres no rule (currently) that says anyone must be on their own.
Seeing family would breach the rule of six/put vulnerable relatives at risk due to the amount of travelling on public transport to get there.

I can't volunteer over Christmas as it's been risk assessed as too risky for me this year.

I don't have a bubble. The people I know who are close enough to form a bubble either already have a bubble with actual family, or I know they've been breaking the rules throughout lockdown and I don't feel particularly safe visiting them anyway.

So... Christmas on my own it is. It's not so bad. I've had many years of Christmasses with people. Not everyone else has.

GlomOfNit · 25/10/2020 22:11

I have very compliant (and scared!) PIL and parents so I think we'd be observing the rules even if we didn't want to! My PIL are in a Tier 2 area (we are currently T1) and won't leave their village, let alone drive for 4 hours to see us. My parents are living abroad (somewhere safer thank god) and I will miss them horribly, especially since nobody had a crystal ball and they opted to have a 'quiet' (eg non-existent) Christmas last year by themselves. Had we all known, maybe they'd have spent it with us as usual. Ah well.

I hate the idea of small 'just us' Christmases, though actually adding extended family to the mix just makes things more fraught. But last year we managed just the four of us and we will this year, with added Zoom and FaceTiming. It's all pretty depressing but it won't be forever, and let's hope our parents ride this out and are able to enjoy better Christmases with family after this.

JacobReesMogadishu · 25/10/2020 22:13

We never mix households on Xmas day so no different here. We normally go and see mil for the day a few days after Xmas so guess that’ll be off. She’s in a tier 3 area so probably off anyway.

Turkeys will be cheap....I hear farmers are killing them early to get little turkeys as they’re worried people aren’t going to need big ones.

Mumisnotmyonlyname · 25/10/2020 22:14

MiL will no longer come for Christmas, but I'll be damned if my teen/young adults (both students) stay away. They still effectively live here, albeit in the holidays. What else are we supposed to do, anyway? That said, I will need to ask them to be extra careful before they come home, for health reasons.

Bowerbird5 · 25/10/2020 22:15

I will make the Christmas lunch. If no mixing then DH and I will eat together and then deliver food to DS1. DS 2 lives near him and works for the same company but different premises. DS2 lives in another village but DS 3 works with him so they could eat together. DD is in NZ with her partner. They can’t get out at the moment. DH has a cousin that lives there and her daughter and DD were friends when younger so they may visit or just go somewhere beautiful.
My DSis is ill I hope she is here to spend Christmas with her children and grandchildren. I haven’t seen her for two years I want to go and see her and hug her. I don’t know if I will see her again.

QueenOllie · 25/10/2020 22:15

Home alone. I'm not bubbled with my parents as they're too high risk for catching Covid (I'm ECV)

NeonGenesis · 25/10/2020 22:18

There is no lockdown where I am and very unlikely there will be one at Christmas (rural bit of Oz) so I don't feel constrained as such, but I will be having Christmas day with just DH and our kids. Same as we always do.

MrsAvocet · 25/10/2020 22:22

I will be very sad if my grown up DD can't come home. She's currently living with her boyfriend and his family. I know she would have a happy Christmas there as they are absolutely lovely but we have only seen her once since last Christmas thanks to Covid and it won't be the same without her. I know it has to happen eventually, as your children grow up and have families of their own, but neither DD nor I are quite at that stage yet.
I will also feel sad for DH if he can't see his parents at some point over the festive period. They are quite elderly so of course may not be around for a lot longer.
We never see other people on Christmas Day itself but usually invite/visit both our extended families at some point between Christmas and New Year so we will miss that side of things even if Christmas Day itself is fairly normal.

Cam2020 · 25/10/2020 22:22

If we could manage a ceasefire on Chirstmas day during the first World War and even a game of football with the 'enemy' we can bloody well have one day of normality in 2020.

Bugger the rules.

claireymrsd · 25/10/2020 22:24

We're in tier one (for now!) so in theory we could go to my parents or they come to us, but in practice my husband is in the extremely clinically vulnerable category so we've not met anyone indoors since this all began.
So it'll just be the three of us, (daughter age 15).

MJMG2015 · 25/10/2020 22:25

@Cam2020

If we could manage a ceasefire on Chirstmas day during the first World War and even a game of football with the 'enemy' we can bloody well have one day of normality in 2020.

Bugger the rules.

Oh right. Have you developed the ability to negotiate with a VIRUS?

Nope thought not.

IndieTara · 25/10/2020 22:25

There's only me and DD11 but usually we go to my sisters for Xmas. Don't think it will happen this year tho

Judystilldreamsofhorses · 25/10/2020 22:27

We ended up just DP and me last year because I was really ill - I now wonder if it was early Covid! We were supposed to host and had all the food in, and ended up having a new year’s dinner instead, although by then I still couldn’t smell or taste anything.

It was a nice day, except for me coughing my socks off, so I wouldn’t mind if it was just the two of us this year. We’re in Scotland so haven’t been able to meet people indoors at home for a while now. Usually we are five people, but three households, which is also not allowed.

windturbines · 25/10/2020 22:28

Ignore the rules and allow my parents to visit on Christmas Eve morning, and DP's family to visit in the evening. Christmas day will be just us two and our kids.

I'm not going to have a huge Christmas party but I'm not going without seeing family, either.

OhTheRoses · 25/10/2020 22:29

We are bubbled with DH's mother who has developed dementia this year. DH, DD and I will be going there - DD and I have booked an hotel for three nights. It will be an M&S affair!

DS and his GF are staying at ours to look after the elderly cat :)

Usually Christmas is here and usually 5 or 6 on Xmas Day, Church, etc, and 8 to 10 on Boxing Day.

Quite looking forward to it now it's been decided.