So are you glad you get to see your in-laws this Christmas then if it’s 3 households allowed to gather ?

[Lardlizard]

or were a lot of you hoping to avoid the mother in law lol

Seen the in-laws at Xmas once in 20 years.

Haven’t seen them at all for over 3 years. There’s a benefit to living a few hundred miles away.

Will be seeing them but won’t be doing the massive extended family get together. Would have stuck to that plan even if restrictions were lifted completely. It’s only one year and I’m in no rush to catch CV with my rubbish immune system.

Hell no! Am considering asking BJ to put a ban on just for them!

Genuinely pleased. They are lovely people, they love their grandchildren, they care about us.

But it's a 3 household bubble isn't it. So if you bubble with your parents and your in laws then none of you can see anyone else (siblings, grandparents etc).

Three households means some part of Mr Johnson's family cannot be with him at Christmas.

I’d absolutely love to see my in laws, they’re fab. Sadly they live in Spain so it will be a while yet. Haven’t seen them since last Christmas

@waitrosetrollydolly🤣🤣🤣

“Three households means some part of Mr Johnson's family cannot be with him at Christmas.“

He doesn’t even know how many kids he’s got does he !

I'll not be bubbling.
I've already got my reply ready for when we receive the dreaded request that we go over there.
Boils down to "No".

🤣

Oof this is tough. We love them; they are lovely... but they are in their 70s, and I worry about them. We suggested doing Christmas on FaceTime, but they weren’t happy. So now I think we’ll be driving 45 minutes to spend some time with them outdoors, and then driving home to eat, which seems stupid... but MIL is finding the idea of not seeing DH really upsetting.

I can’t see them not seeing other family if it’s three households, though. They live very close to MILs two sisters and FILs sister...

I sort of wish we hadn’t been given the option.

I'd love to see my in-laws they are wonderful and we've seen too little of them this year.

However, after a term of exposure via school and nursery we'll need to think very carefully whether it's worth the risk to their health...

“I sort of wish we hadn’t been given the option.“

Think there will be a lot of people thinking this hope, conversations going on up and down the country

We have a v small family, so are OK, but its going to be a nightmare for many families. Three families means both sets of parents, but neither set of parents can see their other children. Or parents and one sibling, but then the other person in a couple can't see their parents or siblings.

Sadly, I think it'll be mostly ignored by people and they will wilfully misinterpret it as a different bubble of 3 families each day - my understanding is that its actually one static bubble of three families for the whole period.

@mrsm43s

We have a v small family, so are OK, but its going to be a nightmare for many families. Three families means both sets of parents, but neither set of parents can see their other children. Or parents and one sibling, but then the other person in a couple can't see their parents or siblings.

Sadly, I think it'll be mostly ignored by people and they will wilfully misinterpret it as a different bubble of 3 families each day - my understanding is that its actually one static bubble of three families for the whole period.

That's my understanding too.

I'm really torn by this decision and as others have said, I'd much rather not have been given the option. I do feel for those who have suffered through separation from much-loved family though and glad they will find some happiness this christmas.

On the other hand, I now have no excuse to avoid the in-laws and it will likely just be them and us so I can't even dilute the effect. Other family members who would normally join us have already declined and are happy to have a smaller christmas with some zoom catch-up throughout the day. Not the ILs though - ever since August, they've been whining about how they simply cannot be on their own and telling me that if the rules aren't relaxed, we'll just have to break the law to be together. So there's definitely no stopping them now. MiL isn't too bad but I detest the vile bigot that fathered my DH. My own family are abroad so I won't see them anyway. I'm utterly dreading it now.

I'm also not convinced that "saving" christmas is the right thing to do this year. I'm worried about the repercussions in January and am already facing redundancy, with additional restrictions in early 2021 likely to be the nail in the coffin. I'd really like to make a moral stand against mixing households but DH says that with everyone else doing it, my actions won't make a difference, plus it will mean the world to his parents. And, as I said, I also really feel for those who do want some respite from the loneliness.

yes but mine are lovely!

Had already agreed with extended family that DH & I would host MIL who is on her own, and otherwise will do our own thing. That was a relief.
But MIL is getting excited at the thought of being able to see everyone, and that’s not happening in my house so a conversation will be had when we know what Nicola has agreed to.

“ I sort of wish we hadn’t been given the option.” 💯 my family and his can all bugger off based on current behaviour.

I don’t really support the whole saving Christmas thing either - aside from a few exceptions (single households, terminally ill etc) I’d much prefer to keep things strict and look at it with a long term view. I don’t understand the whole yes you can meet up indoors for a few days as there’s going to be an inevitable rise in cases/deaths a few weeks later.

I have no intention of a big family Christmas this year and am just hoping my wider family understand and don’t try to pressurise me. I can easily see some just turning up unannounced expecting to come in. That’s going to be awkward on the doorstep. I think I’ll have to warn them!

I'm going to spend it with my parents and my brother's family. Thankfully I like them all a lot! I'm stoked

My mil has dementia and fil is her career. It’s exhausting for him and he is in poor health himself partly due to stress so we will be seeing them at Christmas and trying to make it as nice as possible.

Yep. Happy that both sets of parents can be with us