Every year, my DH wakes up and thinks the shops/cafe are open on Christmas morning

[onlychildhamster]

This happened again this year. I tried to tell him, no darling, budgens and Caffe Nero wouldn't be open today. Its part of his daily routine- he likes to buy fresh bread and coffee in the morning. He was very insistent and petulant. I decided to humor him and said, go on then; if they are open, get me some cheese balls and a mint hot chocolate to go. :) He just called me, very crestfallen, saying that he has never been so wrong in his life. The only places that are open are a small french cafe and a couple of sports bars.

We don't celebrate Christmas so I guess thats maybe why details like Christmas opening hours escape his radar. But I would have thought living 31 years in the UK would have prepared him for this (though to be fair for most of his life, he was abroad during the christmas period).

Do any of you have husbands who are completely oblivious that Christmas is a major holiday which most people want to celebrate with family and therefore don't want to work!

Merry Christmas everyone and esp to all the essential workers who are working today! :)

Cafe Nero may be shut but there are plenty of Starbucks open in London today

My FIL worked inAmerica for long spells and once requested his whole team in on thanksgiving - someone had to have a gentle word and explain how big a holiday it is 😱

DH grew up in a country where Christmas isn't really a thing and I've been preparing him for days that everything will be closed today. He went out for a walk this morning and came back with chocolate from a convenience store and fresh bread and pastries from the bakery so it goes to show what I know.

I’m surprised by the (minority, at least!) of people who can’t understand that Christmas and its associated closures can be forgotten by others. A lot of people - shock, even whole countries - don’t celebrate Christmas. And even if they do, it doesn’t mean it’s marked in exactly the same way as in England

OP my DH is the same he knows Christmas is happening but he forgets that it means, for instance with this year, that Saturday most places are closed. I’ve marked it on the kitchen calendar as ‘shops closed’ for this reason! I forget too, not that I don’t know it’s going on, just the broader, “Oh, hang on, that’s why there are no buses passing…” (we live near a bus stop, I haven’t attempted to get on public transport today!).

The double bank holiday this year is really messing with our bins routine

@kokoalemon yes I grew up in a country where Christmas is a bank holiday but all shops and public transport are open (and it's the same for Diwali, Eid and Chinese New year; all of which are also public holidays; but a lot of shops/eateries do close for 2 weeks for Chinese New year so their staff can go back to China for the new year but it is not representative!). I guess I am surprised with DH cos he did grow up in England. I am now realizing how it can really differ from area to area. In the area that DH lived in before, there were a lot of Jewish shops and restaurants that were all open. In fact, we just opened up uber eats and in another part of Finchley (which is more diverse), there are plenty of Turkish and Iranian places that are open.

There was a Christmas when DJ was working on the day itself. We spent another Christmas in Barcelona. There was also another Christmas where we actually travelled by plane on the day itself and didn't see much except for the airport.

We bought our flat in 2019 and moved to the area but somehow in 2019, we didn't notice the shop closures as we did a long walk to a Hampstead pub through bishops avenue. Last year was a lockdown Christmas so all shops closed by default.

Easily done if you don’t celebrate it I think

If it’s of any reassurance @onlychildhamster DH and I both grew up in England and celebrated Christmas as children… and yet we forget

However we are in an inner city area and still have a few independent shops and takeaways open today, and we both grew up in diverse city neighbourhoods, so we’re very accustomed to things being open or running practically always.

The Independent shops around the corner from us are open all day as usual. Wouldn't have got a fancy coffee and croissant, but they all seem to have Costa machines - I appreciate that using one might not be something he does, depending upon his particular variety of faith and observancy (although you posting here at lunchtime doesn't suggest that it's one that prohibits electrical 'work'), but the only clue that it's Christmas here (another part of London) is that Tesco's is closed; it just looks like a Sunday other than that.

My DH does this on a normal Sunday and it drives me mad - keeps suggesting we go and get our food shop for the week on Sunday night. He's grown up here (and is old enough to remember full Sunday closing as a kid) so I have no idea why he does this!

@NeverDropYourMooncup nope I am liberal and DH is irreligious! DH only likes Caffe Nero coffee unfortunately! He only went to our closest high street and we only have Caffe Nero, Iceland, budgens and Sainsbury's (all closed). Small organic fresh veg shop and other independent grocers (all closed). Corner shops (all closed). Restaurants (all closed).

It's not the best high street but we do have Muswell hill and Finchley central within walking distance which have more shops (and it could have been better there!)...

That is sweet.

Maybe makes some plans to have a winterfest day next year. If you plan to have kids in the Uk you will have to get with the programme (if only to reject it.)

@

@Luredbyapomegranate is there a lot of pressure to do Christmas in a big way for a Jewish child in a non Jewish school? DH went to Jewish school so of course there was no pressure on that front. He received a few Christmas presents generally jumpers and chocolates and lego- fairly low key. I was raised Catholic but my Christmases did not resemble what I see on Mumsnet in any way- it was morning mass, lunch at a hotel and a few toys/books.. did not expect more than 1 present! Christmas was more of a religious holiday for me growing up. Hence I do not miss Christmas that much. Most kids in Singapore did not believe in Santa.

“ He sounds like not the sharpest tool in the box”

“ He therefore must be very very slow mentally if he doesn't understand that Christmas Day is a very important day in most countries all around the world. He sounds very very stupid. What is wrong with him? ??”

“ Early onset dementia?”

Some astonishingly snide comments on this thread.

Why?? Especially on Christmas, a day that is supposed to be about peace and goodwill.

Why was he shopping on a Saturday anyway?

@BewareTheRedNosedDragon

I don't but I did drive to IKEA yesterday without checking if it was actually open on Xmas eve. Needless to say it was not. Luckily it's relatively local to me 😂

ME TOO!! I checked Online, and no mention of it being closed.

I walked miles having left puppy at home alone.
Completely closed.

It was raining too. Very depressing.

@MyDcAreMarvel

Why was he shopping on a Saturday anyway?

OP has said that they are liberal/irreligious and so not following Shabbat rules. Who are you, the religion police?

Could I just say that Christians in Britain also go to church weekly... but most Britons aren't actually Christian.

I had no idea that IKEA would be closed on Christmas Eve though. (Not that I would have gone there on Christmas Eve!)

I'm Jewish and went to a Jewish school so Christmas didn't feature in our end-of-term activities. At home we often entirely forgot about Christmas Day - it was just another day in the holiday. Dad often worked Christmas Eve/Day or Boxing Day shifts so that others for whom Christmas was important could get their family time. So it did sometimes happen that we would be entirely oblivious to it, and only realised what day it was when we arrived at the supermarket.

I live in Hong Kong but am not Chinese, so we don't celebrate Chinese New Year which is one of the most important festivals for much of the population.

One year I turned up with DS for his piano lesson on one of the Chinese New Year days to the piano teacher's house, just assuming the lesson would be on as usual. I'd somehow forgotten it was a festival not just a day off. The teacher and her husband were baffled to see us. They hadn't bothered to make a special note that the lesson would not take place over the CNY holiday because of course it was obvious to them that it wouldn't.

I felt very silly.

This sounds like something my husband would do but he's autistic and foreign and thinks that every day of the year is the same and everything works exactly the same as in his country.

How come you don't celebrate it if you live in Hong Kong?? It's a nice festivity. I thought anyone would be happy to have any reason to have extra celebrations/time off/with family. Even going to Chinese New Year celebrations in the UK it's great fun.

When living in Spain I kept forgetting most shops closed on a Sunday (this was while ago not sure if still the case) so I could totally see that someone for whom Christmas isn’t a special day would turn up at supermarkets etc. However it is strange that he doesn’t remember when you tell him, you’d think he would remember previous years of turning up to closed shops.

We are lucky we have a local premier chain shop open xmas day. (Only ever used it once xmas day!).

They are open because some of the elderly round here love their own routine of daily newspaper and so get business.

It's run by a Muslim family who don't celebrate so it's no bother for them either.