Aibu to think the Middle Class have a much nicer Christmas from the run up to the event itself?

[Mincepiesorpigsinblankets]

Just from observing friends & family. The more mc ones seem to have a fabulous, jam packed festive period with lovely events scheduled & nice traditions. Aibu in my thinking?

Setting aside the recent thread about a lady whose hedge was cut by a wreathmaking CF, I am sure that most people have in their head "its only me and I only take a little bit" But when multiple "only me's taking a little bit" visit the same area and take the little bit, that is where it gets problematic and places do get stripped. I live in a rural area near a large city and I see it every year.

Yes! They also do cinema showings of live recordings that are cheaper than theatre seats.

How do you define middle class? Do you mean people with money? If so then yes if they don't have money worries they will enjoy Christmas more.
But many people I would consider middle class are not particularly well off financially

In that case they're picking well outside of the guidelines.

Just because you can throw money at it doesn't always result in having a good time. Often read on here one parent, usually mum, plans things for the family that cost hard earned money then dp /h sulks about something and doesn't want to go or one of the kids play up.

We were on a very low income when my dds were young. Our Christmas festivities started in November.

We went to every free event going, there wasn't a weekend where we didn't do something. We went to messy church, church fayres, school fayres, free light up events, looked at lights, Christmas Carol concerts and more. We used to get cheap train/bus tickets and go to London or other cities and see the lights and go to free events.

I would book early and cheap panto tickets, so often got £5/£10 tickets. And go to the lesser known ones for even cheaper tickets.

We visited Santa at the free events or places like a garden centre where it was cheaper or sometimes free.

I think rather than income it depends where you live. We lived in a very community centred area with very quick connections to 2 larger cities and only 1hr from London so lots of options for free and cheap events.

We also did alot of Christmas crafts and activities at home.

I can’t think of anything worse than scheduled Christmas activities/events.

We would be perceived as MC but don't earn much. When we do have spare money it goes on Tombolas/raffles at the church Xmas fair and Christmas school events or community things. I do not believe the magic of Christmas lies in our wallets but it does help. We go for Xmas light drives with snacks and hot chocolates so hardly MC by MN standards. A PP said, if you want to find £££ for something you will, regardless of "class".

Money? everything costs a bombe. Of course money helps.

Foraging is absolutely legal on commons and heaths as I said. It’s also fine in the countryside as long as you stick to paths, observe the countryside act and don’t take anything that has obviously been planted.

The rule is that you don’t take more than you can personally consume.

If you’re going to finger wag get your facts straight.

That was someone’s garden!

Well I was exceedingly poor when my children were growing up, definitely not middle class, and we 'made the most' of Christmas.

Middle Class seems to mean everything from "sometimes buys hummus" to "David Cameron"

Is it nicer to be able to spend 100 a head on theatre tickets or not be able to afford your rent? Would you rather drink piss out of a rusty tin can or stroke a lovely dog beside a log fire? Who can possibly say!

Or like we used to- make paper chains from cut up old magazines. - free.

Make a door sized advent calendar with a roll of wallpaper, last year's Christmas cards and paint. Their best ever was Sonic Claus!

Many home made mince pies to feed hungry tummies.

Watching movies all snuggled on the sofa.

They are all 30-40 now and remember all of this very fondly.

This. But then threads like this one give people an opportunity to tell all what class they are, as if it really matters!

Look at me, wandering around the estate with a flask of hot lemon squash looking at the non existent door wreaths, standing outside the late night shop looking at the lights. Of course money makes a difference.

@Siskonot yes but money doesn't always equal "middle class".

Surely you know the whole point is it gives people the opportunity to indulge fantasies about their own class credentials, with the added bonus of an audience.

Growing up my family would have been classed as “working class” but we weren’t poor. We were taken to Regent Street to see the Christmas lights and to Selfridges to choose a winter coat and have a hair cut. We ate out, theatre trips, the ballet and foreign holidays and this was the 70s. It’s about money not “class”

Do they though, or does it just look good on Instagram?

I think the OP meant the better off familis and not those living in poverty, being food bank dependant, not having enough coming in for a basic standard of living. Of course there are working class families who do well financially but I have yet to meet an actually poor middle class families (unless you count the poor souls who have to live on 60k per annum whose hardship the Guardian likes to write about ;-) )

I mean I never came across this mindset till mumsnet it's intresting so it's not even about money because an electrician can earn way more than an office worker. It's apparently about mindset and hobbies but why do they think liking the opera is so superior to liking to watch football?
I mean come on these people always act like they feel sorry for the "low class people too stupid to know which hobbies are appropriate to enjoy" I mean come on why is wine superior to beer? I don't even get it 😂

Oh absolutely. In my WC household we don our rags each 1st of December and walk barefoot through the snow gazing in on all the wealthy people with their roaring fire, fat goose on the table and chubby cheeked children full of festive cheer. I spend my evenings hanging round victorian streets saying "Evening sir, spare a penny for a poor girl at Christmas?" to all the men with the white collar jobs. Then I go home to sew my eight children a rag doll between them by candlelight. This is despite the fact that we are a double income household with low outgoing and disposable cash.

@Siskonot I don't think people really know what makes someone a certain class anyway.
Working Class.... Middle Class.... it's all nonsense.

No. People who have emotionally healthy family dynamics are the only ones who have a good Chrismas and are the richest of all.