Christmas - following the rules or not?

[BIWitched]

From what we know right now (and accepting that things may change in the next few weeks) if you're in tier 2 or 3 re you going to obey the rules about not mixing households indoors?

YANBU - I will be ignoring the rules
YABU - it's my civic duty to obey the rules

I justify it with the fact my dp will be working on Christmas day until the evening. I already feel I credibly low been in the house all day with just ds now, I dread to think how if feel in Christmas day just me and him. I've started antidepressants since all this kicked off and just don't think covid trumps everything else.

We are all in Tier 1 areas but the immediate family is 7 people. We will be getting together. My parents are in their seventies but we have been seeing them for months and would no more leave them on their own at Christmas than we would fly to the moon. My father has multiple issues which make my mothers life damn near intolerable at times. Removing the company of her family is a far greater risk than Covid, frankly. There are many other issues which need to be weighed in the balance (and I say that with an underlying condition), despite what some people seem to believe.
As it goes, I believe there will be some sort of Christmas amnesty. I realise that makes no sense in terms of virus suppression, but this is a government led by what it thinks the public will wear.

All these people having 6, 8, 11 for dinner on Christmas Day must have massive houses! How do you all get round the table and still keep each household 2m apart? (Or 1m with a mask, though that impedes the inhalation of festive fare somewhat). You must have palatial living rooms to be able to socially distance in them! And loads of couches. I’d love a house big enough to do that it.

If you’re not doing that (which is still the rule, even if there are only 6 of you) then do you ever wonder why it’s people mixing indoors in homes which is blamed for a significant proportion of the increase in cases? Hint: it’s because of you.

We are following the rules and will continue to.

But of course when cases rise in January it will all be the government’s fault .

We are in tier one at the moment so if we stay there I'll be able to have my parents here within the rules. However, because dm is vulnerable I plan to distance from them within the house as much as I can (I can sit them at a separate table)

@AdoptAdaptImprove no social distancing in my house. I mean we are not sat on each other's knees but am I going to hug my mum at Christmas? Yes I am.

I hate Christmas, so I will, for the first time since March, suddenly decide to follow the rules.

I haven't seen my mother or sister since February - I am seeing them at Christmas and I don't care what our dictator Sturgeon says. There has been no logic to her mismanagement of Covid.

I will be following the rules, I don’t think it’s worth risking further lockdown or restrictions for the sake of what is essentially a couple of days.

I'll be following them. Trying to teach my children about duty and responsibility to others. Means shit all if I don't do it myself.

Sticking to the rules.

We formed an extended household/bubble with single SIL so either we will go to her or her to us. We do live in different parts of the uk so we will have to see what the rules are for out of area travel although extended households might be an exemption.

Probably won’t set foot in the same house as our parents over Christmas though 🙁

I'm not following them but my parents are so they won't come if I invite in-laws and them for Christmas dinner.

Those choosing to mix with family are recklessly playing with the health and life of others, especially older family members.

FFS it’s only going to be one Christmas! How will you feel when an older family member falls seriously ill, or even dies?

I am the mother of 3 university students who have bloody sufferred through this.
2 of them (both of them nursing students funnily enough 🙄) have had covid and recovered but still get repeatedly locked in whenever another flatmate shows symptoms.
They will be coming home for Christmas.
We will cancel all other extended family (including Granny who is safe living st my sisters) but these 3 are not sitting on their own in a tiny room in Christmas day.

No, I'm not leaving my widowed Dm on her own at Christmas.

Any suggested rule-bending office gatherings: certainly not (woo hoo)

We will be breaking the rules but not by much. There will be 7or 8 of us, we are all in Tier 1 areas now but expecting to get to tier 2 by Christmas. I’d be very surprised if we went to tier 3 by then though, not sure I’d break the rules if I was in a tier 3 area. We won’t be social distancing either, I have a small baby and family will be holding her on her first Christmas.

Oh and I resent being called selfish! I've worked front line treating covid patients since March and I caught covid myself in March.

@Sertchgi123

Those choosing to mix with family are recklessly playing with the health and life of others, especially older family members.

FFS it’s only going to be one Christmas! How will you feel when an older family member falls seriously ill, or even dies?

We will be mixing with the 2 people who care for my child week in week out, including overnight during night shifts.

If mixing with them at Christmas is reckless then so is them providing childcare... but of course that enables us to work and pay tax and earn money to spend which as we've seen is considered covid proof from the government.

So judging by the number of responses that people are basically saying sod it I’m going to do the same as I did last Christmas and sod the rules well all I can say is fast forward this time next year we’re all going to be in the same situation as we are now, only some of us will have lost loved ones because some of us can’t be bothered to follow the bloody rules.

So were all doomed!

@MorganKitten

My mum is in a locked down neuro unit, so yeah I can’t break the rules

Sorry to hear that. If it’s anything like the one I used to work in, the staff will do their very best to bring some happiness to your mum and the rest of the patients.

@Serin

Oh and I resent being called selfish! I've worked front line treating covid patients since March and I caught covid myself in March.

We both work in inpatient nhs, though mental health not physical. Nearly every one of my colleagues has been bending the rules since the very beginning anyway because wouldn't you know, the need to use family for childcare in order to work didn't go away just because the government made it illegal.

Stuck to the rules throughout this. We’re in a tier two area and my parents in a tier three area. My parents have had a horrid year. My Dad is lucky to be alive after some health issues and has just completed a course of chemo, which we hope means he is now in remission, but just awaiting results. They don’t want to be alone at Christmas and although they have friends nearby who say hello frequently from the top of the drive and have a chat, i know they need something to look forward to.

We’ve barely seen each other for months as they’ve been in a higher restriction area since July, so in December we are lucky enough to be able to self isolate for a few weeks before spending Christmas with my parents.
If my parents didn’t want to do this, I would respect their decision. But we have all decided we will be doing this and spending Christmas together.

Assuming none of us have symptoms, we will be going to my in-laws'. Still following the rule of 6, but we won't be isolating on a day that means a lot to the family for reasons other than Christmas for a virus that isn't going anywhere. We otherwise follow the vast majority of the rules and all of us work from home.

I'll be following the rules.