Anyone else have no fucker who wants to bubble with them over Christmas?

[EleanorRising]

We live a couple of hours drive away from both our families but there and back in a day is doable.

Text from FIL: "love you all, not meeting up with anyone til vaccinated against this bugger. Will transfer £££. See you on the other side"

Text from MIL (they're divorced) "Jeff and Joan are bubbling with us and bringing Joan's mum so that's our bubble sorted. Easter's looking promising though"

My sisters will spend Xmas day with their in-laws so that's their bubble for the 5 days.

Anyone else not been inundated with requests?

MIL always hosts but she is vulnerable so we have asked her to come to us this year rather than having 12 people who have also met up with various other family before going to hers ( two sets of GPs on SILs side are split up as well which doubles the number of households people need to see). If everyone who normally goes to MILs does their usual Christmas meet ups there will be a potential meeting of 10 households, and I can’t see any of them wanting to miss out seeing their family at some point on the day ( usually before they go to MILs to be fed).

Now that they’ve said three households can get together I expect MIL will feel obliged to host everyone but given that us, SIL, eldest GD usually go that puts us over the limit so we will be going out to see her in the garden on Christmas Day before having lunch at home. We are hoping that SIL will say that she will cook for her own family to save MIL feeling obliged to host. My family are 300 miles away so I don’t have to worry about our side so much.

I’m expecting DH to face some level of guilting to make it a normal family Christmas but he is more cautious than me.

Oh and I also love your FIL!

No kids, parents both dead, partner died very recently and my only living relative is my brother, who is a total recluse with MH issues.

My best friend is shielding as she is f/t carer for her 91 year old mother. Other friends are bubbled with their families. I'll be home alone on Christmas Day but spending the following couple of days with my SIL and her family, who are my "support bubble".

Still, at least I don't have to cook for anyone!

DP and I always cooked Christmas Day lunch together and properly went to town, even though there was only ever just the two of us. I may pretend it's Boxing Day and have turkey sandwiches.

What a load of bollocks, we’re in lockdown but we shall pause for 5 days to celebrate bastard Christmas 🤔

We have decided Christmas will be in our own households this year. If anyone was on their own they were welcome to join our bubble. But my two sisters will have their bubbles at their own separate houses and I will have mine at mine. We will have a big get together when all vaccinated!!!!!

I've resigned myself to the fact that DH will not see his parents until a vaccine is released and he hasn't seen them since late February. They've met with his sister, of course, and she has stayed over at their house. She lives 4 hours drive away from them, we live 6 hours' drive away. Both DH and her have jobs that mean they work with colleagues (DH's sister also works with the public)

We've suggested that we could both self-isolate for 2 weeks and then meet up because it'd be pretty much guaranteed that neither of us have it.

Yes, I am annoyed for him because it's bloody typical.

@WhereverIGoddamnLike that would literally be the dream. Me and my fiance have always wanted to spend christmas alone rather than having to jump from house to house over the course of 3 days trying to please all our parents and step parents and see everyone. We dont get to sleep in our own bed for a week and we have to cart suitcases and presents from house to house for days on end. And they all live within 20mins of each other anyway!

But if we said we were seeing one parent then all the others would go mad, if we said we were staying home alone we would be being spiteful. If I only saw my in laws then my parents and step parents would be fuming and vice versa. This Christmas will be no more enjoyable than the many others. But all out family war would be worse.

@IndiaMay

I'm impressed people are following rules. We are simply going to break them. With divorced parents, siblings, half siblings, step siblings, widowed grandparents on their own. We're just going to have to break it

Or you could choose to be sensible, minimise your contacts and look at the bigger picture for 1 year!

It's us that doesn't want to bubble. Since the summer we've said we'll only meet others outside, as we don't want to increase the risk to anyone. My Mum is techically part of our bubble, but as there's a lot of cases in the school where I work she's suggesting a distanced couple of hours in our extension (ie we're in our lounge and she's in the extension). The rest are my DH's family - we get on well with us of them, but they don't get on well with eachother so glad we haven't got to choose.

We won't be seeing anyone. It's not worth the risk and frankly, people have manning to break the rule are at best spectacularly stupid and at worst spectacularly selfish.

Have manning = who are planning 🤷🏻‍♀️

@Happychristmashohoho see above. This is not what I want

It could be worse. As the least favourite child I am not invited but my siblings are.

Just me and the dog then. I’m not sure how I feel about it. Mainly like a bit of a failure for not having a ‘proper’ family of my own

Human plus dog = family in my book. And I'm not being trite. Christmas can bring so many mixed emotions, especially this year. Merry Christmas to you and Ddog and to all those who are spending Christmas alone who really don't want to.

I really like your FIL. If only all of us could be as straightforward & cheerful as him there would so much less angst and mental health issues.

My parents (divorced) have both said they're not really interested in seeing us unless the schools have been shut for two weeks before , which leaves me at high risk of having to bubble with the ILs! Kids and I would rather have the day at home and then maybe go on some socially distanced walks with GPs and turkey sandwiches on Boxing Day

Us!!

@JacobMarley

I have 4 adult children with children. There’s no way I could choose between them so I’ve cancelled Christmas this year. I’ll be spending Christmas Day at the beach with the dog - and saving myself a fortune 😁

Merry Christmas everybody, however you’re spending it 🎅🏻

Sounds like bliss to me

We are intending to just be our little family, me, dp and D's. I have invited my grandmother but she hasn't said yes or no yet. She lives alone and will get offers from everyone. I think we are the lowest risk household for her to be with, she is 79 with many health issues. I am not working atm, D's goes to preschool, my dp is a lorry driver and doesn't have direct contact with anyone. I only leave home to take D's to preschool. All others she could spend Christmas with have multiple adults coming and going including socialising in ways they shouldn't and multiple children going to school, my parents are childminders and bubbled with my sister so basically are already mixing several households, plus my father and brother continually break the covid rules and just do what they want. If she declines our invite I won't be upset but it would be nice to have her.

I'm the pita who has just sent a family message saying sorry, we're not going to be bubbling, it's not worth the risk, my dad has a heart condition, in his 70s and has bubbled with his partner the whole time. I work in a school, I have three dc in secondary and dh mixes with loads in his work, we probably have at least 700 a day ppl we mix with. I have covid at the moment and there is no way I want my dad or anyone else catching it. Just the 5 of us having a quiet time.

My dm swapped her bubble for my brother and sil, and complains I won’t go and see her. She should be isolating as we are . But it ha# all caused the biggest non repairable fall out.

@lindaellen

Missing the point somewhat!
For all the woe is me, there's only six of us here, nobody wants us to join their bubble sit in a stuffy covid infected room and spread the joy of Covid for Christmas, there will be many people alone this Christmas who would prefer not to be.

[quote IndiaMay]@Happychristmashohoho see above. This is not what I want[/quote]
It’s tricky, but as adults we have to make difficult decisions. I think the aim of the rules is to make sure no one is left alone if they don’t want to be but to avoid situations like yours.

This year gives you the ideal excuse to put your foot down and say you’ll be doing what you want to, with no come back. (From rational people anyway!!)

No-one for us but that's the way we prefer it.

@IndiaMay you’re choosing to break the rules be under no illusion about that you don’t HAVE to see any of that long list of people you’re choosing to

My parents would love to bubble with us after a year of not seeing them but they’re on other side of the country so other than a 500 mile drive with 2 kids who would hate it and probably puke we aren’t (flights we had booked in hope of things having improved already cancelled)

Local we have in-laws but they’re elderly pil who have already said they’re staying home and sil/bil who might see somewhere outside over the period but not on Xmas day.

Friends will bubble with other households from their own family so don’t expect will see much of anyone really

Meh I’m over it now