Covid has a Christmas silver lining

[Courtney555]

Am I the only one thinking that, as covid has almost forced our hands into a very small Christmas, that actually, a side effect will be that we generally take a step back and have a smaller scale Christmas.

There's no "must have the perfect looking insta posts on Christmas Day", no commercialised excess, no over indulgence for being seen too do so.

By forcing the country to scale down, I think perhaps it's the shake up we needed to realise how ridiculous our Christmas consumerism had (excuse the pun) snowballed too, and in fact this will be a welcome wake up call to so many, that they can do a third of what they feel pressured to do, and still have just as good a time...

You do know that millions of us aren't in tier 1?

Tier 2 can currently only meet outside, observing the rule of 6. Great in December in the north.

Tier 3 can't mix with other households at all.

I'm all for a less commercial Christmas, but don't forget a huge chunk of the population currently can't see their family at all.

Sorry @Courtney555 to burst your bubble. I’ve noticed loads of people thinking you can get as close as you like within 6 people meeting up, but yes you’re right now, you can’t all arrange to meet somewhere even distanced. So you’re not the only one.

And for those in tier 2 and 3 it is even suckier.

@BluebellsGreenbells

What would happen if 5 bubbles all 6 people who didn’t k ow each other turn up on the beach?

Would that be different

Yes, because those 5 people won't be interacting. So no talking loudly from 2 metres away that then becomes 1 metre away or less once people have had a few drinks, or sneaking in for a quick and totally understandable hug or two after so long apart, or a cute toddler popping up in another bubble to see cousins, or someone sharing some of their world-famous bread sauce across the group etc etc etc

*5 bubbles rather!

I won’t be able to see all my children.

There’s not much good about that.

I think restrictions will be relaxed over Christmas. People are not going to compromise on seeing their families although we need to get DD and my parents over from Belgium. No way are we not seeing DD. She’s 21 and only just started work in Brussels.

[quote ScouseQueen]@Courtney555 Sorry, there'll be too many of you.

The people I feel most sorry for are those living alone or with one other person, who would normally go to another household for Christmas but this year won't be able to. At least bubbles of 5-6 people have each other.[/quote]
DM lives by herself in a low transmission areas. She’s nearly 80, and although she was happy to bubble with us in the summer, she won’t see us now the dc are back at school (we live 250 miles away in a Tier 2 location, surrounded by Tier 3, I suspect we’ll be “upgraded” before long). I just want “this” to be over. Surely relaxing the rules over Christmas will just set back recovery?

@Parker231

I think restrictions will be relaxed over Christmas. People are not going to compromise on seeing their families although we need to get DD and my parents over from Belgium. No way are we not seeing DD. She’s 21 and only just started work in Brussels.

How is her just having started work in Brussels in any way relevant to the spread of a virus? Do you think there's a festive exception?

Bet that all the people now having a fit about the impossibility of Christmas restrictions would have had even more of one if people didn't respect lockdown when they shut down parts of the north with large Muslim populations literally the night before Eid, in order to minimise cross-generational gatherings.

It sucks. And if my neighbours in tier 2 have some people over in the back garden I'd be in support and try to keep my nose out in any case, but if I heard someone I know was flying older and younger generations back home from a country with high covid cases I'd be thinking

I think our Christmas will be bigger this year. Not in terms of people, but with decorating and gifts. I’m just finishing off my shopping and need to write my Christmas cards next weeks. I’m so excited that I’m buying more decorations for outside.

Happy that we most likely won’t have to see relatives 😆 I think I’d like a Christmas Day in our pyjamas 👏

I don’t care what anyone else but one way or another I’m seeing my family. Will probably go to Belgium and follow the quarantine requirements. Hopefully things will have changed by Christmas.

The real value of Christmas for me is spending it with all of my nearest and dearest. Church, carols, lovely food, watching children open presents, all crowded in with the fire on, music playing etc.

It's looking likely we might not be allowed any family round at Christmas, church services are severely limited and have no singing.

The only thing people will actually be allowed to do is spend lots of money and post pictures on social media. I'm not saying that's what we'll be doing but actually Covid restrictions to me have pretty much taken away all of our family traditions.

I'm due a baby in a month and my dad died last December so I feel that I'll need my wider family even more this year and it's unlikely to happen.

I agree with the original post about the smaller Christmas. Im minded that parliament may feel they want to jumpstart the economy and open everything up 2 weeks before xmas.
Im due at the end of January and am happy to stay at home rather than going to the in laws then to see my mum. Although its nice to see them at Christmas it would be nice to have a Christmas dinner with just the husband before baby arrives

You were going to spend the whole day, 30 of you, at the beach in the UK in December? Fuck me that would be grim, you'd need alot more than hot chocolate to keep you going through that

I'm lucky enough to live near beautiful beach and we will go for a walk on boxing day to blow the cobwebs away but whole day wed be frozen solid. And yes 30 is too many people. You do realise millions of us cant meet up with my other households at all?

I wont be scaling back on food or presents, it will be the same as usual. I'm very sad, especially for the little ones that all the usual Santa grotto, Christmas lights, Christmas fair, panto, carol services etc wont be on and very sad that it's unlikely I will see friends and extended fmily. IRS really shit and cant see any positives to the situation at all. I dont bother with Facebook or inst so those sort of posts dont affect my life at all anyway.

[quote Courtney555]@hemhem so sorry to hear that. Our situation is similar. What we're doing, is all meeting up on Boxing Day, for a socially distanced walk on the beach. I think it will be lovely. It's the whole day together, with flasks of hot chocolate, and to blow away the cobwebs, (and calories from Christmas Day) without any commercialisation involved.

Could you guys do anything like that?[/quote]
That sounds lovely, wouldn’t it be nice to live near a beach. We’re 2.5 hours away!
We don’t have the type of Christmas you talk about in your OP anyway, but as this year we won’t be able to do the carol concerts/crib services/family get togethers we usually do, I’ll probably end up overcompensating for the shit year by spending more on my children than I would normally. Never usually do the whole elf on the shelf/Christmas eve boxes etc but if it brings a bit of joy then I think we will this year.

I won't be spending less money. Christmas presents for my dc still cost £££, pandemic or not.
A couple of years ago my wider family did all decide that we weren't going to buy for adults any more, only children, in an attempt to reduce the stress and expense and that's actually worked out well.
My parents are determined to have a normal Christmas, which involves brother and sil traveling from a high transmission area. I think this is a bad idea, my adult sons don't want to mix, especially the one who has lived alone for months and not seen anyone. But my parents won't be shifted and it's causing me stress. But they are old and want what they want.

Not for me, I adore my extended family and the traditions we have built up over the years.

I'm not sure consumerism will go down either, my social media is usually full of piles of crap santa presents come December 25th and I can't see that changing too much this year.

I'm pleased for the people who usually find Christmas stressful though!

I'm not sure consumerism will go down either, my social media is usually full of piles of crap santa presents come December 25th and I can't see that changing too much this year

So factories being shut or working at half mast, or people worried or have lost jobs, prioritizing goods over tat, China imports looking wobbly

None of this is a bearing on consumerism?

Plus let’s no forget the queues in the cold weather, are those Christmas socks with it? What about limits on none essentials or what’s in the shops now being the only Sri I available, once it’s gone it’s gone?

What about the must have toys being reduced in numbers?

People will be disappointed closer to Christmas

We were meant to be spending Christmas in Australia with my family - there would have been eight adults and five kids, reasonably low key in terms of decoration and food and gifts but huge in terms of family celebration. We do that once every four years, sometimes more.

That’s obviously not happening. Other years it’s just the four of us, and travelling up to the in laws after Boxing Day for a few days. That won’t be happening either, as they’re vulnerable and we’re in Tier 2. Some years my parents come to us - every four years or so, again. That’s not happening either.

So it’s just the four of us, and it will be fine. No carol services or nativity plays or the Christmas fair, of course. We’re usually into activities rather than stuff, so losing all that sort of thing is a real blow.

But yesterday my eldest asked if we can ‘really decorate the house to make it super Christmassy as we won’t be seeing family and that would make it a different kind of special.’

And do you know what? Yes. Yes, he can have that after this complete fucker of a year that has taken so much from him.

JassyRadlett

So your spending is down,

No flights, holiday clothes no Petrol costs, no meals out or cinema or Santa visits, Christmas fairs or children’s nativity even a Christmas disco.

Even buying extra decorations your overall spend will be considerably down.

@BluebellsGreenbells You've spectacularly missed the point on a couple of fronts.

First, the idea that the 'consumer Christmas excess' is purely linked to spending rather than attitude and behaviour. We would have had a much lower key, much less consumer Christmas with our family abroad than we are likely to have here, for the reasons I mentioned.

Second, the assumption that we won't be doing any Christmas-related activities. You seem to think that those things won't exist - in fact, we are booked into more paid events this year because they are likely to be the only ones on offer. Paid events can have numbers controlled and so are going ahead, free stuff or school stuff - the stuff more important to our local community and to my kids - can't. So yes, we're booked in to see Santa. We're booked into Christmas at Kew. Youngest is booked to go to the theatre. Eldest will get a cinema trip. We'll do meals out as a family. Maybe more than usual because they break up the monotony of being at home in the dead of winter, just the four of us, with no one dropping by for a drink or a play or to decorate gingerbread or help us make strudels.

(Incidentally, how much do you spend on your children's nativity plays? Ours is free, save for a charity donation - which I will be increasing this year.)

Third, the stunningly insensitive suggestion that we'll be quids in because we'll get the money back for our flights. First comes the idea that flying to see my family is in the category of Instagram-worthy consumer-Christmas overconsumption, and second, the idea that it's money saved rather than money put aside to get on the first possible (probably more expensive) flight to see my family as soon as my bloody government lets us in.

I'll probably chuck some of it on social media as well, because that's increasingly likely the only way I have to connect with large numbers of family and friends for the foreseeable...

We might spend a little less this Christmas. Probably not much. But our Christmas will be significantly more 'consumerist' (rather than pure spending out of my bank account) than it would be otherwise, because so many of the simpler pleasures of family, friends and togetherness are being denied to us.

But gosh yes. You're right. I should not feel even remotely bothered about any of that because I might save a hundred pounds or so.

Before anyone piles in, I recognise that being able to afford to fly to see my family is consumption, problematic in environmental terms, and a huge privilege. I get that.

I just don't buy that it's part of a peculiarly Christmas-related overconsumption model, rather than the cost of one of the shittier parts of being an immigrant.