Christmas poll

[Thorilicious]

We as a family have decided that, regardless of what the government allows mixing wise at Christmas, we aren't spending Christmas with anyone else. We will pop over to my parents, and have a chat through the window, but that's it. DH and I are both key workers, so don't want to risk spreading the virus for the sake of one get together.
Will you mix if they say it's allowed?
Yes-I'm seeing my family if it's allowed
No-We aren't mixing.
No arguments from me either way, just curious what everyone else is thinking.

On Christmas Eve and Day it will just be us, then (weather permitting) between Boxing Day and New Years Eve we’ll meet up with PIL somewhere (prob National Trust) take our own picnics and have a few hours with them outdoors. My dad and step mum live nearly 300 miles away so they are staying put and having a quiet Christmas - hopefully catch up with them at Easter 🤞🏿.

We will prabably be just our household, and my parents if allowed for Xmas day and dinner. At some point will have to exchange presents with wider family so there will be numerous quick doorstep visits, where will have to resist attempts to entice us inside for a quick mince pie!

What is worrying is how many very elderly at risk people seem to be 'desperate' to continue with christmas, regardless of the awful risks they face on this thread.

Are they very lonely most of the year or alone perhaps?
Or are they just stubborn?

It just strikes me that the responsibility is removed from the hosts, if granny is 'desperate' and comes anyway, but I wonder if granny has truly considered the outcome of the covid ward waiting for her if indeed she is one of the thousands that will catch it over christmas, or does she think covid happens to everyone else but her.
Over 50,000 of the dead must have thought the same at the time.

I am absolutely dreading these threads come January when it becomes clear the price of christmas with granny and grandpa. Because lets face it - it is going to be happening to some of us, many of us I imagine.

Neither option to be fair, if its allowed to mix I will be being insanely strict on who we mix with and be asking for it to be outside for a walk with no hugging (we have family who are risky for transmission and we are insanely low as no one goes anywhere). My mum lives alone so will be coming but that's allowed now

No!
No mixing, hoping for DC to be able to continue their education in January without being sent home because one numpty family wanted to see their cousins and now everyone has Covid-19 and hundreds of other pupils have to suffer.

@MrsCremuel

Me, DH and DS 18mo will absolutely be seeing my parents at xmas. It would break my mum not to and I need just one day of normality.

And if everyone thinks like you? Is ‘one day of normality’ worth another surge in hospitalisations and deaths in January? Your day isn’t justifiable to me, having to be locked away in my home for yet another month, even avoiding contact with my husband, and yet that’s exactly what will happen if people like you travel and mingle and create further opportunities for spread. And btw I’m not old or about to die, I have psoriasis. But crack on with your one day of normality, none of the rest of us are struggling at all!

@Redcherries

Yeah the SE is flying up, really not 'low' in at least 2 areas near me.

My husband and I won't be mixing with any family or friends so that we can allow our son to spend time with his girlfriend and keep any missing low. It seems only fair as we have each other but son and his long term girlfriend can't even have a cuddle or watch a film together. Its hard because I am CEV but I feel so much for them.

Can you say which area of the SE, I live in the SE and genuinely interested, we were tier 1 before this lockdown but number were starting to climb, I am near Gatwick, keen to know if the higher cases are near me.

One day of normality can be done when its safe to do so. This is going to be endless otherwise and we will all have to pay huge tax to make up for the lack of rule following.

Pretty much my whole immediate family has just had it so we won't be going mad but I'll definitely see them over Christmas. We have the stepkids for Christmas day and they haven't had it so we will stay home on the day then when DH leaves on boxing day to take them back to their mums (dsd lives 150 miles away) I will take the kids to see my parents. I dont believe for a second were going to get it again 6 weeks later - maybe if it was 6 months I'd be warier- and weve just lost my gran so will be a hard Christmas. No chance I'm waving at my poor grandad through the patio door

Yes definitely

No mixing. Xmas will be me, my partner and my children. We’d normally see grandparents but they’re vulnerable. It’s hard but dd1 gets a crowded bus to a large bubble in a big secondary school so I worry that she would carry covid asymptomatically and give it to relatives.

If we are allowed people in the house I might invite a Couple of dc’s schoolfriends for play dates but I’ll make my mind up nearer the time.

We have my df who is our bubble. And whether allowed or not if my inlaws want to come. They will. I won't stop them. I've had enough as have many of being dictated to who I can have in my house yet there are so many other flaws in the rules.

No but we don’t anyway. We sometimes go to the pub on Xmas eve with some school parent friends, one other household but I don’t think we will do that this year either.

Yes we will be seeing dp dad for the day

Yes, we will be skiing my In-laws. They are our childcare bubble so we have had some limited contact with them anyway via our toddler. We already see almost no one (even before lockdown 2) and have been additionally careful with getting click and collect shopping - as have they - so the increased risk of seeing them properly on Christmas day and boxing day for a few hours each time is extremely minimal.

Seeing, not skiing.

We'll make plans with our childcare bubble. Neither family has relatives in the UK so we'll plan something together.

My in-laws (FIL, MIL and DH's brother and wife) are desperate to come to us. It is our turn with the in-laws; however, my FIL is a transplant recipient, so clinically extremely vulnerable. My BIL and his wife just want us to host so they can get "brownie points" for seeing the in-laws (and probably some cash) without having to host/pay for anything. I do not get it. I have said I am more then happy to host something in the Spring when, touch wood, at least my FIL will have been vaccinated; however, looks like my proposal will fall on deaf ears. It drives me mad as they are not a particularly close family so why do we have to make such a big deal of one day?

My family are all in the emergency services/medics/army etc and so Christmas get togethers were often in January/February when everyone could get a day off. So I do not understand why there is this desperate need to meet on 25th Dec, when all the indications are in a couple of months we will all be able to meet safely again.

No. I'm working on Christmas Day and my sister is getting married on 5th jan hopefully. So doing everything I can to avoid the chance of isolation.

@Coffeeandcocopops

The point is still there that Covid has not gone. Maidstone basically no visitors at all unless you are dying. I call that closed.

The Trust I work at has had extremely limited visiting, with similar restrictions to the ones you posted, since March, even right through the months when there were 0 Covid patients. It doesn't necessarily mean the hospital is overflowing with covid patients, in our case it was to prevent spread. It certainly doesn't mean the hospital is closed, both elective and emergency patient are still being admitted and face to face outpatient appointments are still happening where they can't be done by video or telephone.

Yes we will be mixing.

We’re happy to have Christmas just the 3 of us, but if the government go ahead with this stupid relaxing of restrictions or heaven forbid, they close schools early and make us pay for it with another lockdown, then hell yes, I’ll be making the most of it in a sensible manner! I’m not having all the crap part and none of the good part! Our friends are already piling on the pressure for us to go to them for Christmas but we’d limit it to my parents, DH’s parents and my sister’s family on separate days. This is only because everyone else will be doing it though and we’re all healthy and won’t pass it on to elderly people, like I said if restrictions are still in place, we’ll have a nice, quiet Christmas with just the 3 of us.

The one person that has visited throughout will visit (regular contact needed in case they have to care for autistic ds in an emergency) but not seeing anyone else.

Yes, my parents are coming if it's allowed. They are pretty fit and healthy in their 70s and are more than capable of deciding whether they want to take the risk or not.

We would like to have my parents over to us on Christmas Eve and us to them on Christnas Day, but that's it. We wouldn't hug and we'd have a separate visitor loo in both houses.
I work in a school, DH wfh and DS in school, so our intention would be to isolate somewhat for the week before, to be on the safe side.
So just those 2 days with some safety measures put in place.