Having a family crisis on Christmas Eve 😩
Parents live a 4 hour drive away from us and our immediate family is small - just them, my brother and myself. My parents only come to visit a few times a year and with Covid it's been even less (they're in their 70s) I'm a single parent of an eleven year old and have, like everyone else, been living in bubbles throughout out all. I have a career I love, I work full time and have to book time off long in advance - I got 5 days for the xmas hols. We finally make it to Christmas, all double vaccinated with them getting the booster 2 weeks ago and me yesterday. They wanted to treat everyone and have dinner in a hotel (my Mum always prefers this also). My daughter was only just too young to get her vaccinations but as we've all been so careful in the lead up to Christmas, we waited for the big 'pay off' over the holidays. I let them know I wasn't feeling great the evening before and we confirmed meeting early on Christmas Day, them being here to watch my daughter open her presents drinks etc. So around 11am today, no warning, I am having a lie-down with a mild reaction to the booster and someone starts banging on the front door. After a few minutes, I open it and there they are without warning asking why Im 'still' in my dressing gown. They also passed me presents that were from my brother which made me ask why he couldn't exchange with the rest of us on xmas day. Turns out he had told them he had made other plans and now wouldn't be joining. They demanded I hand them our presents for him, which I did and off they went. Right after, I both texted and called my brother but he hasn't replied, even at 11pm. Later on, I was on the phone with my parents who confessed to me he had told them he is a non-vaxer etc. When they pressed him for more info he apparently laughed it off as if it were a joke and then told them he HAD gotten both jabs after all. But he couldn't show any cards or proof of this, in spite of knowing full well for well over 6 weeks that he wouldn't be able to get into the hotel for the xmas dinner. We have had our cards laminated and our Covid passports are at the ready. Loads of planning has gone into it all. He wasn't wearing a mask and they told me they'd spent about 3 hours in his house. I asked my parents whether they believed his claim to be vaccinated and they say yes, but I have a nagging suspicion he has lied and put them (and potentially also then us) at risk. I am now at a loss at what to do re.tomorrow. Do I go along anyway to the dinner with my unvaccinated daughter? When I expressed my worry, my mother basically told me I'd ruin Christmas and blamed me for what's happened etc (she tends to always do this generally). I feel really unsure. I'm prepared with plenty of food etc at my house so worst case, at least we wouldn't be stuck but then they say they won't bother going to the dinner if I don't show up. He certainly won't be going either way, without proof of vacs, as the hotel won't let him in! I am outraged by this and stressed to the max. It feels like everything hangs on me for xmas day. What the hell would you do??? 🙈
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