Would you move Christmas Day with kids if you were all unwell?

[Christmastime4]

Would you move Christmas Day with kids if you were all unwell?

Yes, it's fine.

Do gifts as usual, lots of chocolates, films, playing with toys and a takeaway, party food or oven meal for dinner. That's a perfect, easy Christmas.

If you want a fancy dinner then do it on New Year's day if you're up for it. Lots of M&S Christmas foods & turkey is reduced on Christmas eve after 3pm so buy & freeze.

My 8 yo would have to be extremely ill not to mind having to wait longer for her presents!

I could imagine a situation where we had a very quiet/low-key Christmas Day & saved the food etc for a different day but can’t imagine not having Christmas at all on 25th.

Absolutely

@Cannotwaitfornewyr

I remember when I was 7 and I had the flu on Christmas day. I was lying on the settee watching my siblings open their presents until I fell asleep. My mum woke me up for dinner, but I could only manage the soup. Then I slept again for most of the day. A few days later, I was feeling better. My mum and siblings had gone out to the sales for the day so it was just me and my dad at home. My presents were still wrapped under the tree. My dad cooked a christmas dinner for me and him, as he didn't eat the meal on Christmas day, because I wasn't up to eating mine. He had saved me a christmas cracker, so we did Christmas a few days after my siblings and mum had. He watched me open my presents then helped to assemble the toys and played with them with me for ages. We watched some christmas films and he made the day so special. It's the one Christmas that really stands out for me as a child.

Oh this is LOVELY. Your dad 💕

@Christmastime4

Thanks everyone, they are 8. I just wondered if anyone had got away with it and if they regretted it in the future? There’s something that would upset me being on a different day.

At 8, I’d ask their opinion, honestly. Mine have certainly been counting down at this stage, a d would notice and then what about Father Christmas etc. I’d ask them if they’d like to have the big celebration another day, and say you’d collect the stockings up so that you could put them back on the ‘pretend’ day. I wouldn’t try to delay Father Christmas’s arrival, that would be weird - I’d just ask them if they wanted to pretend it wasn’t Christmas Day until they were better.

I’d fully expect my DC to opt for getting their stockings and presents on the day itself. Meal etc could wait.

I think 8 is too old to move it completely, especially if you have to start making things up about Santa, it’ll just make it all fall apart a bit. You can do two Christmas’s, or talk to them about celebrating on a different day, but they’re too old to just shunt it back and pretend you haven’t, I think.

When DD1 was 18 months, we had Christmas in November when DH was on leave from the Army. Obviously too young to know the difference then. Over the years birthdays have moved all over the place. DDs are given the choice... A different birthday date when he's home, or without him... And they pretty much always chose to have their birthdays with him.

Christmas is still a few days away, so see how you feel by Thursday.

Just say you wrote to Santa and he's going to deliver their presents later since they're poorly, but also be prepared for sad kids who are feeling poorly anyway and not getting presents, could be a disaster.

My mum is a nurse and we often had to do Christmas a different day, didn't bother us but we knew when out Christmas was going to be, usually Eve or boxing day so we didn't feel like we were missing out! X

What kind of ill? It’s dependant on that I guess. Too ill to enjoy it then yes. But no otherwise. And if everyone is the same- which is unlikely... so the well enough ones miss out.

Had norovirus about 3 days before Christmas a few years back. My DC were toddlers so really didn’t have a clue what was going on. I was still off my food on Christmas Day, still had a bit of stomach ache. For some reason I powered through and insisted on making the full Christmas dinner. Looking back it was pretty bonkers, my DC definitely don’t remember it so we could easily have just had beans on toast.

Definitely. The point of the day is that you enjoy it as a family. It's not an endurance test. DC probably won't even know. Wait until you are all better then celebrate properly.

My dad is amazing. He made sure that I had a special Christmas when I was ready for it, instead of when the calendar said. That Christmas is my absolute favourite one. If you have to move your celebrations because of illness or something else, it doesn't matter. I was that child and because of my dad, the day we celebrated Christmas was the day he sat with me reading the instructions booklet, working together to put together my little pony nursery, sticking the stickers in the right places and playing with my operation game. He hadn't opened any of his presents until that day either so we took turns opening our gifts. I remember laughing at him, because he got socks and slippers and I got my toys. He asked if I wanted to swop. If you " move Christmas", then just have fun. It could be your best one. Happy Christmas

There was one year that i wish we had postponed Christmas

We were all very ill (apart from ds1 who gave it to us in the first place) but we couldn’t because it was the first Christmas with MIL and i just didn’t think of it

Most mortifying we had been to a house party a day or so before, ds1 threw up and they very kindly let him sleep in a spare room so the rest of us could stay...god knows what we passed on. Still feel incredibly guilty

We did it last year - told 5 year old that our doctor had phoned Father Christmas and said as we had norovirus could he please come a few days later, no problem at all, the reindeer dropped off a “get well soon” card and new dvd as they were passing on Christmas Eve, and then came back a few days afterwards.

Yeah, DH and I are ill and have just tabled this suggestion to the children.

We've done it when we were going to be abroad at in laws over Xmas , we had Xmas early including presents being opened.
We did a letter to santa to explain in advance and to ask if we could have a special early delivery 😉

Thanks all. Main concern is obviously them being upset.

Iguana - what did your husband say?

I would also think if Children are ill now there's a fair bet they'll be feeling better in another couple of days.

Why ever not. Sounds like a good thing to do. If you treat it as a fairly normal thing to do so will the kids. Easter hols move all the time. Blame Boris Johnson - and he's moved Xmas day for us too!!

Thanks

Anyone else?

Presents not if I could avoid it. Food yes, so you could enjoy it more when well again.

I think you need to give a bit more info if you want any more advice, OP.

Are you ill, or are the DC ill? Whose idea is it to move it and whose disappointment is being managed etc.? What are you trying to achieve or avoid by moving it?

Like I say, at 8, if my DC seemed ill I’d offer them the choice. But I’d expect they wouldn’t agree with each other (typical in my house) and so I’d go with a low-key day with presents but no big meal.
Depends who you’re trying to please and what your ‘perfect’ day looks like. For my DC they can’t have perfect this year - cousins, extended family, both grandparents, big gatherings- so it wouldn’t matter so much if the day was different. It already will be.

On the other hand if your usual Christmas is just your own nuclear family then maybe it does matter?