Has anyone altered their 2020 Christmas plans already?

[PersonaNonGarter]

It is our turn to host my family. They are easy guests but are all coming from quite far away so here for minimum two night more likely 3-4 nights stay. At least six people plus maybe a couple more on Christmas Day.

We’ve dealt with this before by getting out of the house: Boxing Day theatre, cinema tickets at least once during stay, sales shopping and so on. Can’t see this all being back on. Board games only work for so long.

I am now feeling the stress of planning Christmas against a backdrop of lockdown and social distancing. Will I spend £££ and stress about it and they’ll cancel/be forced to stay away anyway.

Anyone else grappling with similar? Are you planning exactly the same Christmas as before?

That would suggest I had made plans already, but good luck!

On a more helpful note, why don't you say that with this year bring unprecedented and uncertain what will be open or what government rules will be you can ask do your own thing this year and you will host next year. You can always change last minute

We were due to host a family party at Christmas after moving to a new area. Five months now being stuck mid move so I don’t know what will happen. I love Christmas but will probably just have quiet one at home ( if we’re in by then) with DH if he’s not working.

Thanks.

Like lots of people, I get quite emotionally invested in Christmas organising and I love it when it works out. I feel like making plans might be setting myself up for an emotional ride.

I guess lots of people won’t even start to think about this til much later in the year. We discuss it because the distance of travel means plans need to be made further in advance.

I’ve been thinking about it too, and wondered about having a few little days out / meet ups rather than all gathering together. So for example, meeting my brother and his wife & DC at a local reservoir for a walk, let the kids run about & play, have hot chocolate etc but a lot of what I thought about is weather dependent. Which isn’t ideal in December! No-one wants to do things like that in the rain and freezing cold...
I’m really hoping we can still do some of our annual traditions, like the Santa train, but I suppose it’s not the end of the world if we can’t. We will make the best of it.

We had intended being abroad (transatlantic) this year.

That’s off.

We then tried to get the cottage near DPs and DMIL, 2.5 hrs from home, to be able to go down there.

But they wanted double what we paid 3 years ago and minimum stay of a week.

So that’s not happening.

But we feel guilty for not seeing them and DMIL is great at passive aggressively making DH feel obliged. So I think we will be “down home” but squashed in to DMILs house, dd on a folding bed (that collapses constantly) in dining room (so needs to be cleared away every day), and given grief about attempting to visit my DPs while there (20 minutes apart).

So we are going to make plans close to the time.

I've been thinking about this. We don't have family travelling from far like you but I worked out last year it would be about 6 different households that came to us if we host again. I'm due DD2 in October as well so family are saying it'll be too much to host again but I just love everyone being together at mine! We'll just have to see if there is a other lockdown by then and try and alter it but the thought makes me sad.

It's my turn this year but I think it'll be postponed till next year. My dsis was hoping to get home but it's unlikely now. I think flights from North America will still be limited. A quiet Christmas looks to be on the cards.

Gawd, I would love a lockdown Christmas. I go to my in-laws and while they're lovely people, I can't relax there at Christmas.

I'd love to just be able to slob out at home and eat what I want, when I want and not have to eat bloody turkey, which I hate.

Could you have a group chat about this, and find out what others opinions are? It really is very difficult to predict how things will pan out. Would the group have any suggestions, could they curtail their stay to two nights maximum. Or could they come in two groups if numbers indoors are limited, one group leaves before the others arrive. If they aren’t there for long you don’t need to plan any activities beyond a walk each day. How would you and they feel about just transferring your turn to host to next year?

I wondered about group chat to canvass opinions, but I was worried they’d all say ‘don’t worry it’ll be fine’ - and then they’d forget about it and I’d still worry.

Honestly, it’s the not being able to get out to stuff that most bothers me - tickets to shows etc. I guess I can leave all the food to the lastish minute.

Unfortunately I'd say who knows???

In these situations plan for the worst, hope for the best. Hopefully your visitors will understand that there will be a lot less to do and possibly stay for a shorter amount of time, and some may not feel comfortable staying over under current circumstances, be on local lockdown, and guidelines still may not allow multiple households mixing on that way.

However, there are lots of other things you can do. Look for walks and trails nearby, online quizzes etc.

I highly recommend having a baby with a due date of mid December to help get you out of these conversations

We will have our first Christmas just us two (well, hopefully three). First time in the 11 years together where we’ve not had to travel to spend Christmas with family & just hoping we have a lovely, snuggly 2 week old newborn (ideally!) and loads of M&S food.

We know that theatres and cinemas will be operating at 50% or less capacity to allow for social distancing, if allowed to go ahead with shows. Obviously this will depend on no local rise in Covid cases/lockdown, and no-one can predict what will happen this far ahead.

As the hosting family I think you have the casting vote over going ahead with Christmas at yours or not, it’s an extraordinary circumstance. If you can’t get tickets to things, and would have to entertain mainly in your home, would you find that boring/stifling? If that’s the case then I think you should seriously consider deferring until next year. How far is ‘far away‘ for the guests to travel?

400 miles far away. Hassle and expense for all concerned. Totally fun and worth it if it all comes off, miserable if it feels like a pastiche of a ‘normal’ Christmas.

Just seen that places are cancelling their Christmas lights. That seems exceptionally joyless.

We were due to be flying to Australia to see family. That was cancelled back in April. Don't know what we're doing now :-(

The Councils have lost income due to coronavirus too. Apparently many can't afford to put the lights on this year. It is a really gloomy prospect, isn't it.

OP, are your guests driving or do they have to use public transport? If driving, then the 400 miles doesn't require much more planning than 100 miles would.

I'm 300 miles from my parents and unless the rules/guidance at that point are to not mix households, I'll be there.

I usually do the journey at night so that we can do it in one go and avoid stopping at motorway services. I also know a few detours so that I can come off the motorway onto smaller A roads and stop in a lay-by for a leg stretch. There are ways to make the long journey doable even with the backdrop of Covid.

Are they cancelling the lights altogether or just the big switch on events?

We aren’t hosting now as won’t feel comfortable being indoors in winter with other households. It will make for a lovely chilled day.

I’m going to aim to have all presents bought by September as then I won’t be reliant on deliveries in winter.

We don’t do the theatre etc now they aren’t little so won’t make a difference there.

My plans have been cancelled. Public transport 300 miles each way to see my family -- I'm not sure I'll feel safe enough to make the trip in December, particularly since some of them have health issues already.

We usually go to MILs house for dinner, but who knows. She has COPD and, again, it's too hard to know how much of a risk it will be in December.

I wouldn't mind a quiet Christmas at home, really. Its just different.

I think from what you have said, you'd be better off postponing hosting a big get to ether until next year and planning your own Christmas this year planning something Smaller that has 99% chance of working out sounds better for YOU than something big that might have to be cancelled Or you'd find stifling with no events on

We have just said that we will probably all do our own thing this year as mixing several households in one house (like sardines in our case) in winter with heating on & windows closed doesn't seem like the best idea, no matter what the guidelines are! But that if any of the families choose to spend it together in smaller groups no one should take offence (but I expect someone will 🤣)

My Mum is 12,000 miles away, my Great Aunt will spend it with her children (a few hundred miles from here) so we are planning to spend it at home (bliss) and if we feel like it, might meet friends for a walk or something depending on the Cv situation at the time.

Currently don't anticipate fancying theatre/cinema etc.

Bloody hell...I hope we still have bonfire night/fireworks!! Yeah it's crowded but no more so than the beaches & being outside..

Back to Christmas, I hope people still put their outside light ups & in the towns too... ill be very sad if they don't.

Our local Christmas Market is cancelled and I'm gutted. It's the start of Christmas. No pie, minted peas and gravy, no brass band playing carols, no stalls of weird and wonderful gifts. We always buy the dc a quirky bauble. It's going to be so sad.

Anyway, I've got 13 coming to me for a couple of days, including the 25th and then we go to the inlaws for a few days. We are happy with board games, sitting by the fire, quizzes, games, films etc. Range of people from under 1 to age 98. Usually 20 or so, possibly more. We don't go out other than to jump in the sea on boxing day and we do go and wander round the village/knock on doors and say hello to people. We like being together and inlaws like hosting.

Totally changed plans. I had planned to return to Morocco as we had an amazing Christmas there last year. I won’t be doing that! Currently looking at the Yorkshire coast...

When I think of the propsect of it being Christmas and there're a chance I still may not be able to hug my mum and my poorly dad I could cry. Actually cry

@MaverickDanger well done for sorting that! I'm due 4 December and if anything, people have assumed even more that they will all be seeing us for Christmas!