What does a middle class Christmas look like?!

[Petitepenguin]

Just wondering if the cost of living is changing things ... I'm not mc but live in London. My most mc friends spend xmas in London up to xmas eve & head to Norfolk for xmas day & the following days. Then head off skiing to France the day before new year's.. Their run up to xmas with the kids is super busy too filled with carol services, Christmas events & art workshops. It looks idyllic.

Hell yeah. Our DDs are tearing into their presents by 7.00am while DH and I look on bleary eyed, enjoying our traditional Christmas Day breakfast of a Terry's Chocolate each + strong coffee.

The primary characteristic of the middle class Christmas is that it features sullen looking kids shivering on wholesome, country walks or, worse still, turgid with boredom, while their parents bellow out wholesome carols in a church they visit once a year, when they’d rather be watching Indiana Jones for the fortieth time, eating a chocolate orange they found hidden in the pantry.

The rest ( skiiing, Norfolk etc.) is utterly superfluous.

😂

(Takes notes on how to make her DD suffer in years to come.)

Oh bless you. We are definitely aiming at pure escapism. And nary a boring relative in sight, you'll be relieved to know. The family we're spending Christmas with are just bloody lovely - the music will be loud and there will be kitchen dancing. On Christmas Day I will be wearing a bronze, glittery frock and vintage leopard print fur coat. DD1 is wearing a green satin dress and DD2 a green velvet jumpsuit - we're all about the glamour in my family at Christmas.

Why are people so obsessed with defining themselves according to the class they perceive themselves to be?

Just do Christmas in a way that makes everyone feel happy, cherished and special. Staying in hotels, skiing breaks, going to the theatre - whatever you and your family enjoy is fine. It doesn't make you better or worse than any other family.

There shouldn't be this awful one-upmanship! Does anyone really care what other people do with their families over Christmas?

I feel like you may not have been to my in laws titchy bungalow on the outskirts of Norwich.

What in god's name does visiting family in Norfolk have to do with class? It's an incredibly diverse county and really very deprived in parts. I doubt they're visiting Anmer Hall, are they? Ridiculous.

If you're middle class you absolutely must give your child 4 gifts according to the annoying rule 'something they want, something they need, something to wear and something to read.' Diving into a pile of plastic shiny gift wrapped tat might be heavenly fun but it is not improving and therefore is common.

We would be classed as middle class, we are both off work on Christmas Day so spending it at a spa hotel with the extended family. I'm at work on Boxing Day, we then have a friends dinner party on the Tuesday. DH is working New Year's Eve so me and DS will be going to a friends party. Not one for skiing but if we had the time off (unlikely to ever happen until retirement) we would spend it on a beach in the Caribbean or a Caribbean cruise.

I'm MC but not the flash kind. Xmas day is either me hosting or my sister - we alternate each year. About 15 of us usually. If I'm hosting it's in London, if she is it's Suffolk. Boxing Day spent with family or friends wherever - usually London or Suffolk (close friends have a house there), we also go to a west end show and other activities. Never abroad.

Also the 'something they want' can't be an iPad or flashing Fisher Price thing. It must be wooden, preferably from Grimms.

All of Europe very cold at the moment, you might be lucky!

I have quite a few MC friends, but absolutely no one dies this...

Sounds like my dc's friends.. Our is a state school but has quite a wealthy reputation.. No upper class, just well paying professional jobs

I'm not MC so I've no idea.

According to the Great British Class Quiz, we are middle class.

This is what we do for Xmas.

The kids finish school. The house gets cleaned. On Christmas Eve, if I can be bothered, we go out for a walk before the kids open Christmas Eve boxes and are occupied for the day by the contents. Mum and dad have a drink or five.

Kids go to bed after hanging their stockings up and leaving brandy and a mince pie for Santa

Xmas day- get up, sling the Turkey in the oven, bang the Xmas tunes on and get stuck into opening gifts. Buck's Fizz and something pastry based for breakfast. Dog gets walked before she has her treats. Dinner is cooked, too much fizz is consumed by me while I do that. Dinner is served, games are played, films are watched, everyone eats too much.

Boxing Day is bubble and squeak day and then up to new year everyone eats all the rest of the Christmas food. Ideally I go nowhere. Nowhere at all.

We are going to Norfolk on Xmas eve every year as PIL live there.
We go on winter walks with their dogs, while PILs are dressed in Barbour from head to toe. They certainly act both as royalty.
I hate it want to stay at home.

@Tickledpickled that sounds lovely

Guilty 😂

Probably MC, but we're going to a middle England town where most of the family live. DS will stay with grandma, in her spare bedroom, we shall stay with DSis in her spare bedroom, and we shall have a whale of a time. The dogs will all be walked, we shall eat far more than is recommended, and drink more than your GP would think advisable (although my best mate who was a GP willl be keeping up). And then, it will be January. Make the most of it. Forget the routines. But drive safely.

I have a friend who likes to think she’s like the rest of us has been on four 5 star all inclusive holidays this year (with three kids in schools holiday) and is going skiing over Xmas and Feb half term. I don’t have the heart to tell her she’s not like the rest of us 😂😂

All inclusive, even five star version, is not MC. It trumpets that you don't have a clue. The whole point is being the person who does this year, unprompted ab initio, what the broadsheets will suggest for 2023 and the tabloids will like for 2024--5.

I don't like skiing so I won't be taking up space. I also won't be sailing in the West Indies.

Agree. Extremely wankerish thread. Thing is you can never tell what's satire on here nowadays 😂

I enjoy hearing about my friends who wish to seem UMC by saving present opening until late afternoon in Christmas day, just like the royal family, y’know. It’s supposed to be a status thing now, apparently.
In the meantime, having grown up in one of ‘those’ families (and we didn’t have to wait until 3pm) I thoroughly enjoy the joy of the 6am present/stocking opening frenzy and chocolate for breakfast. Unadulterated fun!