What does a WORKING class Christmas look like

[KateBain]

Inspired by the thread about middle class Christmases...

selection box for breakfast watch the kids open there presents I used to slope in the back for a cig but I nipped that in the bud which means I can vape in the Livy! Slope off to my family’s to jolly and discuss who’s a goner on Eastenders go home open the roses and watch who is a goner on eastenders why the kids go off there nut

Oh and watch the royal family never gets old 🤣

Not at all. But I'm smart enough to laugh at the funny ones, enjoy the nostalgic ones (Enva Cream!) and roll my eyes at those posts that are "not in the spirit"

Try it, life will be much less ...tiresome.

Unfortunately I'm not able to do that due to my neurotype.

Yes, if you own your own home you are not working class. I said what I said.

And what you said was incorrect.

Come on people it’s Christmas get the Gavin and Stacey on !🎅

Don't be ridiculous. Owning a 2 or 3 bed semi does not magically make you MC. Social class is a lot more complex than that.

Beautifully written and acted episode.

@KateBain oh mick I just love all the drama 😂

Exactly. I have relatives who are a welder and a local council worker on minimum wage who own their home. Another relative is a lorry driver and has a mortgage. Many older relatives in working class jobs bought their council houses. None of them are remotely MC.

We were WC. WC people can have mortgages too. Yes, it meant little spare cash for piles of presents, if we were MC we could likely afford both.

Oh FFS. What a fucking joke. Some little middle class virtue-signaller got my post deleted.
Yet Mumsnet allows racism and ableism to stand... 🤔

Yes my non offensive post got deleted too. I really really do know at least 4 WC families with different dad children. They all have complex family arrangements for Christmases and birthdays. None of my MC friends have such a set up. It maybe a stereotype but it holds some truth.

4 WC families with different dad children. They all have complex family arrangements for Christmases and birthdays. None of my MC friends have such a set up

Mine do! Funnily enough no one brought that up on the MC Christmas thread ...

I'm working class, my Christmas Day is a bit different as no young children in my immediate family.
I can't drink due to meds and my mum hates alcohol as her dad was an alcoholic.
Not all WC are into lager all the time & drink alcohol all the time.
My dad likes whiskey at home. He only drinks lager at the pub with mates. My auntie likes red wine. And they definitely don't drink until lunchtime at the very earliest on a special occasion only. Several of my friend's parents also all WC are similar about drinking.

Yes we have fake Christmas trees, in my view it's better for the environment anyway. And no worries about needles in the carpet.
My tree is cream as the lounge is very small & it looks very pretty.
Presents are opened after Christmas dinner which is usually eaten by 1pm. My sister cooks at her flat.
Obviously if there were kids around presents would be more like 5am or something!!
We usually watch whatever film is on tv that pm / evening.

Back when I was a child me & my sister each had a stocking with small presents then bigger presents under the tree... we opened them in our nightwear but had a shower or whatever and got dressed for the rest of the day.., my mums parents would usually come round & often end up rowing with my mum!
I remember having the old selection boxes & chocolate coins.
We would go to my aunties either on Xmas eve or Boxing Day where my cousins would usually start fighting in their bedroom.
But I loved it there as a kid as she had all these clockwork Christmas toys she'd collected from the markets in Germany.
They lived in a small old cottage which I thought was magical.

My childhood Xmas. I remember there being loads of Xmas presents. And wrapping paper everywhere. My mum walking about with a black bag for the rubbish. I was one of 8 siblings. Plus my nephew. so it was busy and exciting. The original big tins of quality street. My Dad with his cans of lager. He used to ask me to get one from the fridge I used to open it and swig it and would hear him shout oiii 🤣 we would play with toys and older siblings would help us younger ones. Dinner was a roast really with some extra trimmings and drink. Music and laughter I love that memory.

Now i have my own children. I start my Xmas shopping in June. So I can buy through the year sales etc and so I don't need worry and rush. Their piles are quite big I try my best to get most of what's on their list. Only 2 members of my family drink only light drinkers so have a few drunks in. The only think I wish we had is a nice big table to sit and have dinner. But we have to sit on the sofas with dimmer on our laps.

❤️

Aw that's lovely.

Think that probably depends on where in the country you are, and which decade we are talking about.

My uncles and aunts all had mortgages in the late 70s/early 80s - they were miners, steelworkers, electricians and plumbers. So skilled WC, and not poor, but definitely working class. In South Yorkshire, so houses weren’t that expensive.

Their parents, Ie my grandparents, had similar jobs but rented all their lives. Moved into council bungalows when they retired.

We didn’t used to get dressed until lunch time. We were too busy playing with our new toys. DM did used to make us get dressed to come to the dinner table. Done under much sufferance though! We’d have stayed in PJs all day if we’d been allowed to.

Despite now being definitely middle class, we still have bacon butties for Xmas day breakfast!
When we got up, presents were sorted, my sister and I had a chair full each, Mum and Dads were on the couch together. We sat on the floor in front of a coal fire and opened them one by one.
Christmas day was the only day I was allowed to spend until lunchtime in my ladybird dressing gown, my sister had a red one, mine was blue! Then we put on our best clothes for the Speech and Xmas dinner, ate for several hours and were then allowed to put dressing gowns back on for supper- Christmas cake, cheese and Quality Street. Mum always got a box of After Eight mints and we were allowed ONE, the rest were hers.

Fake Christmas trees, Christmas eve boxes, matching family pyjamas, 20 people crammed in for Christmas dinner.

Nearly got me there but there’s 22 of us and no cramming required 😂

Braylen Jayden and Shayden come downstairs and rip open too many presents wrapped in non eco friendly paper purchased from Home Bargains with mums benefit money
they then watch YouTube on the widescreen tv whilst eating sugary cereal
Shayden is just in a nappy even though he’s 3 because mum is obvs too lazy to potty train
it’s not even a £25 reusable nappy that everyone can obviously afford to save the planet
Also the house is a balmy 25 degrees because of those pesky benefits paying for the heating and it’s a grotesque new build on a soul less estate (which actually has decent insulation)

dad comes down at noon cracks open a Stella and flexes his tattooed biceps. ‘English and Proud’ is his left arm and his right is ‘Kayliee Foreva’ the name of his
beloved baby mama

They have an Iceland feast followed by a bottle of echo falls and a bottle of Prosecco whilst mum lights her new Yankee candle and dad goes to the White Lion with the lads

PLEASE NOTE this is a piss take , I find a lot of MN’ers horrible Waitrose/period features home only / merino wool obsessed snobs tbh and my kids are getting gifts from home bargains and I’ll neck a few Prosecco and go to our local pub for a couple also . Also I live in a town lot of MN’ers think you prob need a stab vest to walk through 🤣