“Cancelling Christmas” what would this look like?

[CraftyGin]

Imagine that at 9pm on Christmas Eve, a government minister tweets that lock down is intensivied with immediate effect. How would that affect you personally, recognising that we all have different ideas of Christmas.

Our church activities are 11pm service (which would be unaffected), and Christmas morning service. TBH, I would be happy to skip this service but generally have to show up as a warden. All of our services from March onwards are streamed on YouTube, and this will continue indefinitely

Presents - Amazon.

Guests - my DS1 and his wife have stayed for the last two years. With a short notice announcement, they would already have been here for four or five days, so presumably they would continue to stay. My locally living DS and DIL would not be able to socialise, but we could give them a food package.

We would continue to Zoom relatives far from us, and DS would be included as he is now.

Christmas food has leftovers built in, so we would not have any waste.

Christmas in its spirit is never cancelled. What would be cancelled - all the drama around families getting together or not getting together who ate what drank what or did what. Presents would just be family - or possibly via amazon or other online shops with lists you can publish for others to access (Finally we will all get what we want) we would have to make our own entertainment - no ballet,, pantomine, theatre, opera etc I think there could be lots of positives in scaling back - negatives are those abused and neglected and loney

Hate Xmas so no problem!

My DD would be very disappointed not to see her grandparents. Food would not be traditional Christmas food (as we are planning to go to my parents, so won’t have got turkey etc in the house), so that would be a disappointment. Presents would get spread over more days, so there might be some initial disappointment from 4 year old DD, but last year she got various presents later than Christmas, so I don’t think it would be a particularly big deal for her. If church was cancelled, my DH would be pretty upset - he was very disappointed by not being able to attend Holy Week/Easter and now we’ve been back at church for the last 2 weeks my DD is sad that there isn’t any singing any more (not a surprise, she’s 3 - for her church is mostly about the nice music, and getting to play/eat biscuits after the service, none of which is currently allowed). We’d do our best to make it special for her and just explain that some parts will have to wait till later, which is exactly how we’ve dealt with every other sodding thing for the last 4 months.

If they cancelled it on Christmas Eve I’d carry on regardless tbh... as would everyone else!

No difference - both sets of parents dead so just me DH and DD plus animals

We alternate between my family and DH's. This year it would be our turn to host my family (my parents, my uncle and aunt, my cousin and his wife and kids). My parents would usually stay the night before and come with us to the Christmas Eve family church service, while the others would turn up in the morning (they live an hour's drive away).

So if this happened I guess they wouldn't come - and we'd have a lot of leftover turkey!

I'd already be at my friends house and would stay there, by the time I've been there a couple of days anyway, there's no point in rushing off home -and her DH makes the most incredible Roast Potatoes🤣

But there's only me & a family member of theirs there (plus them two & 3 kids). So it's not like Christmas as a kid where we'd have far more people than you'd think you could fit in a 3bdrm the house! Beds in every nook & cranny and the most fun you can imagine...miss those days 😢

However, this year, SURELY everyone with half a brain cell will be making plans to see fewer or people & have fewer people staying anyway, plus a contingency plan for not visiting at all' type lockdown required.

Obviously some twats will do as they please anyway as they don't care about others.

We've already discussed it and the default is I'm staying home & their family member will be asked to stay at her own home (which she'll harrumph about & make plans with others, but 🤷🏻‍♀️She's a sibling not an elderly so she's perfectly fine!) but should it seem 'safe' to get together I'll go over either as normal on the 21st To stay or meet up for a wintery lights walk or something in between.

Who knows?

I do feel sorry for people who would normally have a huge family gathering, but they'd be better off making plans now not to do that this year. Irrespective of what the Clown says, this pandemic isn't going away before Santa comes, so anything the Givt announces befire Christmas Day shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

Just like the lockdown affecting Eid shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone. I agree with the immediate lockdown as soon as they agree it's necessary - we cannot afford a two week wait each time, but the tweet style announcement is a disgrace. It should have been announced properly

I'm sorry for anyone who had to change their plans for Eid - but we ALL need to understand this IS going to happen and NEEDS to happen, weather it's Eid or
Easter.

Would have been such a bonus for me last year. MIL came round late on Christmas Day despite being invited to stay on Christmas Eve which would have been a lot easier for me (she would have had her own separate annexe). Sigh.

We're already planning most of Advent/Christmas Eve/Midnight mass services to be online. Did actually suggest to DM that we could pre-record Christmas morning so that she could have one "off" as it were and not have to do it live

Plans wise, Christmas Eve/day; I will still be going to my parents with my DC, so will my sister. Come hell or high water. We'll all move into a fortnight prior if need be. I'm sure my Dad would be thrilled at that prospect "bloody hell I've only just got shut of yous!"

It would be bliss, don't have to meet up with annoying relatives

No difference , l plan everything ahead with minute precision, we would have food and drink aplenty. I would have done my Mum and her friend christmas dinner ready and we would be at home enjoying ourselves

We don't celebrate it. Only difference might be that my dd was invited out to a friend's last year so I spent the day alone; presumably I'd have company again. No gifts or 'special' food to worry about.

It would make no difference to us.

DH and I always spent Christmas Day on our own, so we only buy enough for the both of us. I would meet up with my parents for a walk as usual - DH just wouldn't see his. They only live around the corner, though, so we see them 3-4 times a week anyway.

I would carry on with my plans regardless.

I've been expecting Christmas to be cancelled since March.

If it's not cancelled, it will be a nice surprise rather than a shock. I'd rather think of it this way round, than hope for the best and possibly get the worst.

I'm sending all presents via courier well in advance, so they're where they need to be. Travel will be booked last minute if I do travel, and I'll take my homeworking equipment with me in case I can't travel back.

it would have no change at all. I would be inside with the family I would always celebrate with. All food and gifts sorted days ago and everything ready to go. Phonecalls would still take place and we never go out on Christmas Day anyway.

I’d already be at my parents if it was at 9pm so I’d just stay there 🤷‍♀️

I guess DF would have to drive him and DM several hundred miles while over the limit!

Well if Boris thinks I'm going to let my recently widowed dad spend Christmas on his own, then he's got another think coming.

My family would already have convened at my parents (we usually arrive ~5 days before) so it wouldn't make any difference at all.

The only change I'll be making this year will be to monitor the situation closely and possibly come back a bit earlier and work from my parents for a few days before my Christmas break if it looks like a lockdown is in the offing.

We were just talking about this. It wouldn't affect us at all, as we don't celebrate Christmas, but what I mainly thought of would be all the people without food because they'd been expecting to spend the Christmas period at someone else's house. I really feel for people who would have been celebrating Eid today, and also people who had weddings booked for this weekend in the re-locked down areas.

Apparently the Manchester/Lancs/N Yorks decision was made on Wednesday. I'm not sure what the government is playing at with all this eleventh hour shit. It's not helpful, it's not necessary, and it sure isn't doing anything for their popularity. I can only think it's the sort of keep 'em guessing game that abusers use.

What is the point of this post?

Is it to have a pop at the people in Leicester & Manchester who have complained about the very late notice for cancelling Eid?

Dog whistle post seems to have failed because most people don't get the reference.

That all depends on the rules at the time ?

If you mean the rule was two households mixing but you were planning a party with 30 people from 8 and everyone else was planning to break the rules as well, and then the government said no to even two households, because they could see the breaking of the rules was causing an increase , then technically you have only missed out on a small christmas anyway . So no big deal .

I would just watch some films and pig out for a couple of days .

Wouldn’t make any difference to us. I would be working, presents and food would be prepared. We tend to have a quiet festive period anyway.

But it has not been cancelled . They can still go and celebrate in a park with the number of households that were in the rules that were in place anyway ?