Christmas bubbles doing my head in already and we don’t even know the guidelines/rules yet....

[Letsgetgoing888]

Just that really...

We don’t know for sure yet. Personally I think it’s quite generous (May end up being foolish?!) to be allowed to mix any households, especially based on the numbers in some areas. But some people still aren’t happy!

3 families, but they wanted 4. Wanting to see all sides of the families plus siblings and extended family etc etc...

Can’t everyone just have a slightly quieter one this year, making sure those people who live alone have somewhere to go and exemptions for those who are terminally ill.

The only reason we will be able to meet other households will be because there will be capacity in hospitals after this lockdown, not because the virus has gone away. And I’m worried the rush of Christmas shopping after 2nd Dec could cause another spike, knowing what it’s normally like. It is quite a high risk decision.

Haven’t got a clue whether to risk seeing our elderly parents or not, with 3 dc in school. What is everyone else thinking of doing? And how will you mitigate the risk?

Doing your head in yet here you are starting a thread about it and speculating what you might do...

I agree with the idea that it's wrong to murder granny. Celebrate after we have a vaccine.

I agree with you, I think the best decision is to make sure no family members/friends are left alone, but otherwise try and avoid getting together. We normally host both sets of parents, but have agreed with them that this year we will not have anyone here, with three children in school where there have been growing numbers of cases, and parents mainly in their 70s with health conditions, it just isn’t worth the risk for us.
We will probably try and see both sets of parents separately at some point, but not crammed round a table on Christmas Day, and as long as possible after the end of term.

I'm staying at home with DH & DD.

I have 5 siblings all with DH/DW.
21 nieces and nephews and 9 great-nieces and nephews. ( that's only my side of the family)
Add in Alcohol and Arguments about who is visiting who.
No thank you.

@Jrobhatch29

Doing your head in yet here you are starting a thread about it and speculating what you might do...

Lol!

No it’s people that are still not happy that are doing my head in! I Feel like they wouldn’t be happy unless told they can host 10 different households or something.

We will not have any one to stay overnight but will aim to see both sets of grandparents for a socially distanced day (walk, lunch out) over the allowed period. If I was going to host anyone at home it will be healthy friends with similar school age children.

I am happy to stay at home, but I have two very excited children, and it will be fun either way. The thing is that their grandparents would prefer to take the risk to see them. It's hard to know what to do.

We could bubble with both sets and I'd be happy with that. But would they be happy not seeing mine and dh's siblings? They don't have children, and I think they'd prefer to see the children rather than the adults.

We all get on well and wouldnt fall out about it (my brother will perfectly understand if the parents choose the grandchildren over them!), but it will all still be difficult to work out. There is a chain of people and you have to break it along lines that will make it hard.

It just doesn’t make sense and my family is all over the place so it wouldn’t really work for us. I think I’ll stick to seeing my mum for a lovely Xmas eve walk. Mil is bubbled with her other son so we will probably do something similar with her. My dad is housebound so we are likely to go to visit him but I’m not sure. We haven’t been inside his house since the first lockdown so it seems a bit weird. I need to have a proper chat and think about it.

@StonySnowman

I am happy to stay at home, but I have two very excited children, and it will be fun either way. The thing is that their grandparents would prefer to take the risk to see them. It's hard to know what to do.

We could bubble with both sets and I'd be happy with that. But would they be happy not seeing mine and dh's siblings? They don't have children, and I think they'd prefer to see the children rather than the adults.

We all get on well and wouldnt fall out about it (my brother will perfectly understand if the parents choose the grandchildren over them!), but it will all still be difficult to work out. There is a chain of people and you have to break it along lines that will make it hard.

Yes I see what you mean about the chain of people, as different people may choose/prefer different combinations of 3?

Yes hopefully everyone will be mature about it for 1 year!

It is all a bit confusing but I don't think we should speculate until we know further rules.
I hate the term 'killing granny' 🙄

My mum is a granny. She is in a more at risk job than I am. Should I not see her? Because I might kill her?

Will just be DP & I this year we usually see his parents on Xmas day. They're in their 80s. We gonna stand in the garden and them in the door for a quick Hi. I'm also not Xmas shopping as can't be bothered with queues. Just go to my job in a public place and get exposed to all those travelling between Xmas and New year instead.

I’ve been avoiding the speculation as much as I can, want to see what the actual guidance is.
Our dp are over 80 but relatively good health. They want to see our DC but not sure yet whether we will as they are in school with a high number of cases.
Feels too risky to me. I like the idea of a walk outside together and maybe sending a video of DC opening presents. I know it’s sad for them but I’d rather that and they are around next Christmas....

I'm worried about gridlock on the motorways if everyone decides to go to see their relatives all at once. I am considering staying at home this year and not visiting anyone😕

I would only be more or less staying in my bubble anyway. With the exception my parents would be invited. Christmas would not be in my home though. But we would not be staying over

We are just having a quiet Christmas whatever Bojo says just the four of us. Two teens in school its just not worth the risk.
I will go and see my mum sd and with a mask during that time and we will see MIL on face time but she is in a bubble with SIL.
No doubt if he says 3 households some will want 6 or 7 or think they thought it meant 3 households on umpteen occasions and still go ahead snd arrange to meet neighbours in the pub or forget their child whose away at Uni counts as one household as does auntie Mary if she lives alone and isn’t in anyones support bubble.

It is always just me, DH and our young kids for Christmas day. We usually see DHs family, and may see his parents this year as my MIL is a bit overly emotional about it all (ie she likes to take pics of the Grandkids and then go on her phone), but we wont be seeing my family at all over the Christmas and new year as they live in Ireland. As bad as it sounds, I have gotten used to not seeing them. I have only seen them twice this year.

Its one Christmas. One day. The way people talk you would think there are no more days in the year to see their families. I have spent many Christmases not seeing my family, and yes, its a bit sad, but you make the best of it, and its not the end of the world. I think the obsession with Christmas has gotten a little out of hand. With the way the vaccination talk is going, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and this one Christmas day will just be a distant memory. If you have a family or partner, focus on enjoying it with them (if you dont, go see your Mother, nobody will blame you)

There will be no difference in the risk today, yesterday, 6 weeks ago or Christmas day, its if people want to take a risk.

I’d prefer to lessen the risks and have it just the 3 of us in this house. DD (7) will be devastated not to see her grandparents and cousins. My mum will probably be v keen for us all to go to her house, but she is 70 and dad is 72, and my sister has 2 teens in different school years. I just cannot see how getting together would be a good idea.

We'll be having Christmas day with MIL (she lives alone so we are already in a support bubble with her) and may meet her on other days over the holiday. She is in her 70s but healthy and we've already had the discussion with her about whether she wants to take the risk of seeing us (DC are both in school and DH works in a school). No intention of seeing other extended family or friends indoors.

I can see cases here increasing before Christmas though if all the restaurants and non essential shops re-open on 2 December. I've heard (or seen on Facebook) lots of people planning to do Xmas shopping as soon as they can . We're in a tourist area near several higher risk places so if our restaurants etc are open but nearby areas are not I suspect we'll get loads of visitors to the town. Putting this together with more mixing over Xmas I can see us having another lockdown in Jan.

I think the best decision is to make sure no family members/friends are left alone,

My Mum will be alone. She is in her nineties and lives alone.

We don't live in the UK. Driving would take at least 2 days each way.
We would have to quarantine when we were there.
My brother lives in a different part of the UK and may not be allowed to travel.

@Ugzbugz you have summed it up nicely.

I cannot see my children or my grandchildren because we live in different countries (not UK). If all the quarantine rules were relaxed and some flights magically appeared (which isn't going to happen) the risks in us getting together would be no more or less than they are today.

We will have "christmas" when we can finally get together, but it's not going to be on Dec 25th.

Feel like they wouldn’t be happy unless told they can host 10 different households or something.

But if 10 were allowed then you can bet your bottom dollar there would be people complaining that this wasn't enough.

Whatever dates get specified, there will be people saying "but we always like to have our get together on the (insert date 24 hours before/after)"

Ours will be quieter in that I won’t be having our usual New Years ever party or having both sides (mine and dh’s) together like we normally do but I will be seeing family and that includes my parents, my sister and her three kids and my dh’s parents.

Seeing family separately I meant to say.

Can you imagine if a kid's grandparents decided to ignore the restrictions, came over, then later died of Covid? With the "don't kill granny" horseshit, that kid would be mentally scarred for life. The kid would blame themselves,. That rhetoric is deeply DEEPLY sick!!!!!

We had already worked out our arrangements, luckily within the new rules. My siblings declined to visit

I am finding this stressful- don’t want to exclude ILs if we were to bubble with my parents but actually because both sets of parents are 70+ and have health conditions we haven’t been inside their houses since March, so why would we do it now. (My area is in the top 20 rates/100k in England )
We can’t do big walks due to the poor mobility of some parents, so now I’m wondering if can organise some kind of garden picnic.. and pondering gazebos/ shelters and fire pits. Anyone else...?!