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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be a little relieved by the new restrictions around xmas?

253 replies

Ohdoleavemealone · 19/12/2020 16:33

I hate having plans lingering in the air. Hate the uncertainty of can I see my family or can't I.

DS came home from school yesterday having to isolate until xmas eve so yet again we were on the fence of whether or not we could visit family boxing day. We cancelled my parents but they kept saying "lets see". Now Boris has said only mix on xmas day I can accept it and move on.

Am I the only one thinking it would have been kinder in some ways to say this from the start?

OP posts:
NewLockdownNewMe · 19/12/2020 16:53

@Hahaha88 only if that child is under 5.

Trouble with doing it so late is a lot of people will just go ahead with their plans anyway.

CarolinaWeeper · 19/12/2020 16:54

I don't know how I feel, conflicted I guess. We had already decided not to see any family.... I miss my parents beyond belief, they've hardly seen my baby son as they live too far away but it didn't make sense to see each other at Christmas just because we'd been given a few days off when we've spent this long not seeing one another and a vaccine is round the corner.

Covidnomore · 19/12/2020 16:55

Trizzle are you in a bubble with your mum?

Surely you can still see her under that guidance?

I don't imagine it's super high risk to go for your Turkey etc, if you do what you need and then go home.

Tinkerbellflowers · 19/12/2020 16:56

I agree with OP. The should we/shouldn't we was very difficult.

doctorhamster · 19/12/2020 16:56

I honestly think the vast majority of the country will go ahead with their plans at this point. People have had enough and why would anyone listen to a prime minister who has shown himself to be completely incompetent?

buckeejit · 19/12/2020 16:57

Yanbu, although I agree it's much too late - they shouldn't have allowed everyone to think we could get a few 'days off' from Covid.

Obviously I feel for everyone who have to change their plans & will miss family. My parents had already decided to stay home by themselves & I was relieved that we wouldn't constantly be worried about touching things & infecting them while they were here.

I really hope the restrictions being the R number down to allow health workers to get through this next phase.

Spied · 19/12/2020 16:58

@Pidgythe2nd
I'd rather be explaining to dc that they are no longer seeing grandparents because of restrictions than telling them in January that Grandma is poorly in hospital with Covid - and yes, they could have gave her itHmm

Ladylimpet · 19/12/2020 16:58

I'm sorry, I still don't get it op. I'm just realistic. I didn't have plans for Christmas day. And what if, like a pp said, would happen if you or someone you live with get covid symptoms? Everything is cancelled. It's a pandemic and everyone is acting like normal. I just find it odd. You're right to be disappointed. I am too, but I already knew it wouldn't be happening for us. I want my family safe and well.

Covidnomore · 19/12/2020 16:59

doctorhamster I hope not! He is incompetent, but this is happening across Europe. We can't make stupid decisions just because many were stupid enough to vote Tory.

Trizzledizzle · 19/12/2020 16:59

Trouble is @doctorhamster we live on the borders of a tier 4/2 area, just in tier 4 in a tourist area and the police patrol the border roads and we can't risk a fine as money is tight. I'm so tempted to make a break for it though!!

Daisy829 · 19/12/2020 17:00

They should never have said that people could mix for 5 days in the first place. It was a crazy suggestion. How can we be in and out of lockdowns all year then suddenly for 5 days it’s okay to mix. We’ve been tier 3 since august so we had all decided not to mix at Xmas although we will meet for walks. Hopefully it will just be this year and soon things will look much better.

percheron67 · 19/12/2020 17:01

I am glad it is now more definite. The new rules don't affect me directly but we all need the protection that the stronger rules make.

MagnoliaBeige · 19/12/2020 17:01

I get what you’re saying OP, I think the government announced the Christmas bubble rules way too early and it’s not surprising he’s had to backtrack.

Thisisworsethananticpated · 19/12/2020 17:02

It was predictable
Bad idea in the first place

Caplin · 19/12/2020 17:04

I’m kind of relieved too. We had been wrestling with MIL who wanted us to stay over on Christmas Eve, but she is super vulnerable. Now we will go stand in her garden on Christmas morning.

Otherwise we are in a bubble with my sister who is a single mum, so our plans won’t change much. We refused to do much planning as it was too ropey to set things in stone.

We have been under tight restrictions since October, it is pretty claustrophobic, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Covidnomore · 19/12/2020 17:04

Magnolia I agree but people were moaning about it and wanting to know what would be allowed.

I have very strong views about how awful he is as a person and worst PM ever, but I do think he's stuck between a rock and a hard place on this anyway.

KarmaNoMore · 19/12/2020 17:04

I understand the upset and frustration, but after losing my grandmother to Covid and having my parents very ill with it this autumn I have been thinking all along that it is better not to see other people in Christmas at all than burying them in the new year.

We really need to accept at some point that we are in the middle of a bloody pandemic.

ilovesooty · 19/12/2020 17:05

@ChristmasTreeFairy5000

There would have been riots if they cancelled it in November
In November there were numerous posts by people saying that we need to know NOW in order to make plans for Christmas.
nomorename · 19/12/2020 17:06

@KarmaNoMore

I understand the upset and frustration, but after losing my grandmother to Covid and having my parents very ill with it this autumn I have been thinking all along that it is better not to see other people in Christmas at all than burying them in the new year.

We really need to accept at some point that we are in the middle of a bloody pandemic.

Some sense!

I'm sorry to hear about your Grandmother Thanks

cptartapp · 19/12/2020 17:06

Rosebel there's would be increased risk as you'd be spending more time with them.

LuckyNumberThirteen · 19/12/2020 17:06

@Pukkatea

I was desperate to see my family, who I haven't seen since January. I'm now stuck in tier 4 with all plans cancelled. Yes it would have been bloody kinder to say it from the start because this is devastating.
I'm sorry. That's so shite.
Grenlei · 19/12/2020 17:06

Trizzle in your position I would go, however I'd not heard of police stopping anyone in the South East Shock and if that is a possibility I understand your caution. I'm now in Tier 4, as are surrounding areas although when we were previously a mix of 2 and 3 I know people were regularly travelling between the 2 for shopping without any consequence. I'm right on the border of 2 areas so was shopping in a higher area for a while. However we're all tier 4 now.

KarmaNoMore · 19/12/2020 17:07

But I agree that the government has been utterly irresponsible by announcing a relaxation of rules for Christmas and getting everyone’s hopes up as they could see the infection curve raising so quickly.

But then...that’s Boris through and through, popularity over welfare.

Viviennemary · 19/12/2020 17:07

I decided a few weeks ago we would stay at home. Glad I did now. Less complicated. Now everybody's careful plans are in turmoil. What a fiasco.

williowrosenburg · 19/12/2020 17:07

I'm relieved in some ways. We'd made plans but they were all sensible ... meeting outdoors etc now we can't do that.

However our parents were all still meeting up in big groups so I'll feel a bit better knowing now they might scale things back a bit! But then again they might not Confused