Middle class families seem so much busier in the run up to Christmas

[Santasfakebeard]

The mc families in DC school seem to have something on the whole month of Dec judging by the dc's class whatsapp groups. Is it just a middle class thing? Pantos, choirs, concerts, wreath making & mulled wine family evenings, markets abroad, carol singing.
I would love my dc to experience it all but we simply don't have the funds.
Is it just the mc & umc that can afford to offer their dc those festive experiences?

It's quite dangerous getting in very cold water if you have no idea what you are doing.

Ps I once told my in law about the time I went to a panto as a child. She said ‘of course you did, you were rich.’

It is strange how perceptions differ. MIL is horrified that we go to the panto every year. She finds it vulgar/rowdy and sees it as something for uneducated people. She is a snob. And I feel relieved we don’t have to ask if she’d like to tag along.

The idea that MC people have "insider knowledge" is a bit ridiculous. In the age of social media, everything is out there if you are looking for it. If you go to church, you'll know about the carol service, tree light switch on and mince pies and mulled wine on Xmas eve. Churches are usually very good about advertising events too on banners. If you frequent the local museum, you'll more likely see upcoming activities on the notice board, if not you can look it up on Facebook or instagram. It's much more likely that certain people feel like certain activities are not for 'people like us' or simply aren't of interest to their dc.

Our whole extended family went to the panto every year when I was a child as my dgps paid for it. Even back then I remember it feeling quite vulgar!

re: the Nutcracker, depending on where you are in the country may I recommend the excellent annual Birmingham Royal Ballet production? It is at the Hippodrome which is not quite as breathtaking as the ROH but the sight lines are decent from most seats and there is still availability at many performances. It’s the same company that you will see at the Albert Hall.

On the note of ballets, is there any way to watch a show online?

For children, CBBC usually have a short televised ballet. It tends to tour the country and the tickets aren't too expensive. I think we period a fiver but that was a few years ago

And it definitely can be a bit rowdy!

I don’t understand why the tickets are so expensive tbh. The one we go to is a big one but the kids are from the stage school associated with the theatre. The main characters are known but not famous. I find it fun because it’s relaxed and it’s something we started doing when the DC were preschoolers and now they expect to go (although I remember leaving half way through one year as it was too long for them).

Here we are. It's the northern ballet and they tour countrywide.
https://northernballet.com

Yes. I was a single mum and we did a panto paid for by my mum and ice skating. When mum died we went just to ice skating, even then the cheaper earlier sessions. I took them to free Carol services and made a big deal out of little things, like choosing a bauble each and getting hot chocolate at a Christmassy garden centre, but diary was not exactly brimming! Not easy, but my kids who are getting older now look back with fondness on it all, although I always had a point about mid December where I would have an annual Christmas cry, just sort of felt like I was a bit alone! I mean I had lots of friends but just felt it. Good luck, I’m sure you are doing lovely little things that will mean so much to your little ones. X

I find they normally try and and out do each other lol so it spirals out of control. It's a v MC thing to be "so extremely busy" all the time too. Sad really!

I like the lead up to Christmas but we are fairly relaxed about the activities we do.Usually doesn’t involve spending a lot of money.Like other people said,we do the look around the garden centre and go to the school Christmas fair.I also like soaking up the atmosphere in the high street,going to nicely decorated independent shops.
I usually avoid the over priced festive markets.

Not just middle class but some are ‘solidly middle class’ whatever that means! 😀

We've gone to the same pantomime every year since.we were children. My v MC parents (a judge and a doctor, as were their parents and grandparents before them... ) always bump into colleagues there.

but I think it's a theatre that knows its audience to be fair (v middle class large market town)

But ... it's still November.

<I'll get me coat ....>

yep. These activities cost a lot. It's just an Insta competition anyway.

No. It’s really not

I thought I was MC but clearly not then! Apart from the school play and school fair (fundraisers thanks to terrible school lack of funds) we have nothing booked that costs money. My kids are 7 and 5, am I depriving them of something they and I don’t know about?! Im going to make a wreath at home with free bits we find in the woods. I’m not paying £50 to do a ‘class’ or whatever those events are!!!

Kids aren’t meeting Father Christmas, we will spot him from afar at the town light switch on but neither of them want to get up close and I’ve got no desire to push it!

We go to the London Palladium. The market town one must be more La-di-da.

I’m glad much of this wasn’t a thing when my daughter was small, it sounds exhausting. She’s got very happy memories of Xmas though so I guess we did something right.

As so often happens on MN though, my main thought is about class - how the hell do you know?

Sorry, but if you don't know what The Nutcracker is about you're not really middle class at all 🤣. Although I will never understand why in England theatre, opera and ballet is only for educated MC people! By the way you can get ROH tickets for around £12 if you sit in the upper slips and book early. I've set my alarm a few times in the past to buy the tickets the minute they went on sale.

I was in Home Bargains yesterday and they are selling Easter decor.

Ha yes, we booked a few of these kind of things last year e.g. panto and still paying it off 🤣

How do you know?

You start a thread on MN, tell them a bit about you, your parents and what you value. Within about 3 minutes there will be 200 posts of people arguing that you can't be WC/MC because of xyz. Then of course once the majority decide which camp you fall into, there is a scramble between lower, middle or upper of that class 😊

I’ve never done it all but this year have decided to just go into town where they have a little fair and stalls, rather than booking something bespoke. Mainly because I am not convinced my DC enjoys illuminated lights etc more than doing this.