AIBU to start a list of banned topics for Christmas Dinner with relatives! (Light hearted)

[jennytheonionslayer]

I thought it would be fun to create a list of banned conversation topics for Christmas get togethers, I will start but feel free to add to this list!

Politics
Covid Jabs
NHS
Setting up complicated gadgets
Casual lazy racism
Misogyny
Brexit,
Old people
Young people
Middle aged people
Boris
Gender stereotypes
Gender fluidity
Immigration

I'm sure I have missed loads!

Over to you!

Auntie Maud's neighbour's sister's husband's budgie's knee replacement.

Whether buying food at Aldi or Lidl is better.
Which Aldi or Lidl they prefer.
Whether Grandma likes sprouts?
What we had for breakfast.

@AnnaMagnani

Monopoly was banned by my DM as my DF would always win and it led to raging arguments about 'why are you so good with fake money but we are always in the shit with real money?'

When I got married DH suggested we played Monopoly. I told him it was banned. He said 'You are an adult now, lets play Monopoly'.

We didn't get round the board once before I nearly divorced him. It's banned again.

I bought (stupidly) the cheat monopoly a few years ago. The kids couldn't understand why I had a strop and refused to play with the cheating b*. It didn't go well. Wasn't my finest hour and has never come out since. There has to be rules in a game.....especially monopoly.

I'm going to add 'unsolicited parenting advice' to the list...

@GalaPie

My wedding cake.

It's a long and tortuous story spanning 29 years and causes dh's left eye to twitch maniacally when it comes up...and DMIL ensures it always does.

This, and others, are one of the ones I'd love to hear. The best family drama, after all, is that of a stranger.

Housing and house prices.

Employment.

Education.

Using agrochemicals.

Hunting.

Vegetarianism and vegans.

Anything happening outside soap operas or in the real world more than 1 mile from the cottage. that might just be me though

Diets, cooking and exercise.

Mental health and depression. that's DP's reason for avoiding his mother

Vaccinations of any kind. Or modern medicine as a whole. his father

@Pemba - that's a very patronising comment

I think DH wishes 'fixing parents computers' would be banned.

His mother has just rung as 'the cursor has gone missing'. An hour of that later and my DM has piped up with 'Virgin has told me I need to do something about my security' - this will absolutely be a scam and hopefully she hasn't sent them any info.

At least DFIL has died, there used to be 3 of them doing this shite.

My signal to ignore / change subject are the following topics:

Royal Family
Brexit
Any article read aloud from Daily Mail
Religion
Evolution (subset of above but enraging enough to count as separate topic)
Climate change
Unsolicited advice on my job, salary, relationships

I would love to institute a rule of one Christmas dinner-related question only. Possibly two at a push - ‘Everyone enjoying their dinner?’ and ‘Is it hot enough?’ are acceptable. It’s the seventeen other, more specific enquiries and comments that make me want to have a box of micro chips and be done with it. ‘How’s the turkey? Not too dry is it?’ ‘Have you got enough sprouts? There are more if anyone wants them’. ‘What about gravy? Anyone want more gravy? Should I warm it through in the microwave?’ ‘Don’t forget your parsnips; you haven’t touched them yet’. ‘You haven’t got any cranberry sauce? Shall I pass you the cranberry sauce? Are you sure; don’t you like it? I always thought you liked cranberry sauce…’

@luckylavender no, I don't accept that. I said 'some' older people seem to enjoy being goady. I'm well aware that not all older people are like this.

In the case of my parents (in their 80s) , either they have become smaller-minded and more racist over the last few years, or they always were like this but had more filters in place so they didn't express these views. They know what my opinions are, so why bring up these contentious issues? On race/royalty/politics etc. I have always been perfectly pleasant to them.

There don't seem to be any signs of dementia, memory loss etc. But I'm afraid that yes, I do love them a bit less for it. They are not the people I thought they were. All their grandchildren are mixed race, FGS.

Oh great. Thanks everyone. I'm not getting up on Christmas morning now.

Too hard to make a list, and quite honestly any topic in my family could turn south. We finally all were given little signs, one side had a “D’’ (domestic) and the other had “C” (controversial).

With this someone could just hold the appropriate side up when a conversation got heated!

Anecdotes from drunken teenage antics- they were funny stories the first time round but wearing a bit thin now 20+ years later.
Amazon tax dodging - promptly followed by asking me to order something off Prime.
Anecdotes about people in the village. Followed by the realisation that any boring stuff that I mention about my life will be recounted to said villagers.

I think some older people enjoy being goady!

Can I add ageism? Where is your cut-off point for 'older people'? The person born the day before you is an 'older' person.

@rainbowdancegirl

It might be easier to give a list of the things people can talk about

Or join an enclosed order and take a vow of silence.

Can I add Mad Max as a topic for non-discussion.
The Ashes

We discussed this last night

COVID
Politics
Slimming world / dieting

@TheCountessofFitzdotterel

In a normal year we have both mil and my parents and they always get onto competitive poverty in their childhoods, and what they used to call different bread products (muffins, rolls etc) in their various regions.

This year nobody is coming as I am too sick so I will perversely miss it and next year will actually encourage it.

When my mother and mother-in-law used to play the competitive poverty game, many years ago now, I would chime in 'We used to dreaaam of living in a corridor', they never understood.

I wonder what I do, now that I'm at that age???? To be honest, they can be just as annoying.

The next person to play James Bond.

Meghan and Harry
Trans rights
Brexit
Grandma’s serious health issues that I just want to forget for a few days
My errant niece

Dear god please don’t mention the bins to my dad this Christmas. It’s guaranteed to produce a never ending repetitive dirge of teeth grinding tedium.

Oh and I have two houses where we are not to discuss parking issues. One of which if we ave to park up a steep hill quite a distance away we are not to mention this.

And on sly o e h trip to family my dp and I have the ‘is there anything I’m not supposed to know or bro up?’ Bloody hell I do actually love my family

@jennytheonionslayer

I thought it would be fun to create a list of banned conversation topics for Christmas get togethers, I will start but feel free to add to this list!

Politics
Covid Jabs
NHS
Setting up complicated gadgets
Casual lazy racism
Misogyny
Brexit,
Old people
Young people
Middle aged people
Boris
Gender stereotypes
Gender fluidity
Immigration

I'm sure I have missed loads!

Over to you!

Ha ha you've obviously had dinner with my dad before 🤣 I will DEFINITELY be avoiding those subjects, but maybe need to add gender dysphoria too!!

Questions on food while your eating food. I.e would you like more meat/potatoes/whatever while you still on your first mouthful
Cats. (both the animals and the musical)
Travels routes/details of which motorway is better/quicker
Marks and spencer
Anything on sky news.