Will you see more than 2 households at Christmas?

[MummaBear4321]

My family live abroad, so we only have DHs parents and sister to see. We wont be seeing DHs GPs as to us that's too much of a risk. So we dont have any decisions to make about who to see and not see. However, DHs parents will most likely see us, their daughter, and their parents, so basically they will break the rules. I also imagine DHs sister will see her inlaws as well as her own parents and will justify it as 'how can we be expected to choose?'. I have seen lots of people on MN talking about choosing between one side of the family and the other, seeing one set of parents but not the other. Also, I see people struggling to get their head around the idea that if you see both set of parents, you are in a bubble, and none of you can see anyone else, despite both sets of parents not meeting each other.

So, my question is, will you be sticking to the 2 families, or just ignoring it and seeing who you want? Or will you just be staying at home and seeing nobody?

I will spend a few hours with my parents on one day, along with my DDs. DH will come with us if he's not working... They don't know yet whether they need Christmas cover. Normally his department is closed on Christmas Day, but they have been working 7days a week since March (not everyone, in shifts with on call at night).

Normally we would stay a few days, but that seems more risky than just staying a few hours, even though it's a long day. (2-3hr drive each way). Seen them once since March.

As to 'just wait a few months'... My grandfather died a few months after retiring. My grandmother (other side) passed away without warning in her sixties. My own mother nearly died 10years ago, in her fifties. If they want to see their Granddaughters for Christmas, Im not going to stop them.

We will see my mil but she lives on her own. Other than that no other socialising etc for the period.

I'm actually looking forward to a more chilled out Christmas. No rushing here, there and everywhere just some family time.

No.
But we won't see anyone until the 28th/29th either. Need a gap between schools breaking up and seeing people.

We are a tiny family of four households with no other family to mix and match with, so it's just us lot. There's 7 people in total.
4 people in house 1 (me, DH and our two children)
1 person in house 2 (my dad, widowed)
1 person in house 3 (my MIL, widowed)
1 person in house 4 (my brother, single)

They all want to come to our house to spend Christmas with my children, with us all isolating for as long as we can beforehand.

My plan before the 3 household rule was that me, DH, my dad, my MIL and my brother would not go out for 2 weeks beforehand. Those of us that work WFH, supermarket shop done 2 weeks in advance plus one home delivery for fresh food. My two DC have to go to school until the 18th, so 1 week of isolating for them is the best that can be managed.

But now the rule of 2 other households has been announced. So I have to either break the law (I am such a goody two shoes, I wouldn't normally dream of breaking the law) or I have to turn away at least one of these single households. Which sits worse with me? I haven't decided.

I’ve already said this on another thread but mumsnet is very different from the people I know in real life, in that most of them are in childcare bubbles with grandparents anyway. We will see in-laws as well as my family who do our childcare in any case.

@Angel2702

I’d have preferred it if it was one other household at a time or rule of six if from more than 2. At least my parents could have seen us on different days. How do you pick one of your children to leave out, especially knowing it will be spring at least before you can meet again.

Can you hazard a guess as to why they haven’t said that??

I'll be seeing 2 other households on Christmas Day
And I'll be popping in to see friends on the other days, but I won't be hugging, kissing, sitting indoors for extended periods of time
I'm always surprised when I come on here - where I live (north london) you wouldn't think a lockdown had happened - people are mostly socialising as they did before there was even a pandemic
I am PG so trying my best to keep it limited without seeming like a party pooper

No I won't be mixing we are having a Christmas to ourselves.
I think the new rules for Christmas are the wrong way to play it, it makes it seem as though covid isn't that much of a big deal and will just fuel some peoples ignorance of its potential even more.

Covid doesn't know it's Christmas after all.

We're planning to have my DM for a few days (she's in our bubble bit lives far away) and will invite local DILs for lunch on Xmas Day. So only crossing over for a few hours. We'll all use different toilets and won't touch each other, hard as that will be. I'm not 100% comfortable with it but we will be as safe as we can without leaving anyone out.

@alwayswantchocolate yes but they are single person households so one person can be in your support bubble then the other households can join in the 3 family Christmas bubble. Can't they?

Dillo10, why are you surprised when you're not observing the rules yourself? You shouldn't be planning to pop and see friends if you've had family - the idea is that those people become your Xmas bubble and you don't include others during the period.

[quote lovelemoncurd]@alwayswantchocolate yes but they are single person households so one person can be in your support bubble then the other households can join in the 3 family Christmas bubble. Can't they?[/quote]
Can they? I assumed it was 3 max including support bubble people... perhaps I'm wrong.

4 (does a household with a bubble member class as 2 or one?) Possibly 5 if my single uncle decides to come for Xmas. He lives in the middle of nowhere and is a gamekeeper that grows all his own food. Hasnt been near the public since last Xmas I don't think

We wont be seeing more than two other households (in fact, we will only see one - my 22 year old son who would otherwise be alone) because we are not selfish arseholes.

With the number of people on here who are going to break the rules, the rates will rocket in January and there will be more deaths.

Why do people think the rules dont apply to them?

We'll only be seeing my parents. We live at least 4hrs away from all family anyway, which makes it a lot less tempting to break the rules even if we were inclined to do so, which we're not.

PIL are too wary to mix at Christmas, BIL is stuck abroad and dsis and her family will be in a Christmas bubble with her inlaws, which she very sensibly wouldn't be willing to break even if we suggested it (wglhich we wouldn't). So we don't really have any reason to break the rules!

Might see sil, bil, niece at some point but my family on other side of country and pil not taking any risks so won’t see them

Would rather not take risks so likely see no one unless outside if allowed

Nope. Don't celebrate Christmas so family numbers and bubbles are neither here nor there. Would have appreciated being able to see folk for a drink at New Year instead, but needs must.

We will be seeing my DB and his family, and that's it. My DF lives with us so we will be just 2 households.

I do feel really bad for DH though. His family live at the other end of the country, and his DF died in the summer. He's seen his mum for only a couple of days this year, and we won't be able to visit her at Christmas as we normally would.

It's shit. But it's shit for lots of people and we need to be sensible. We're not breaking the rules for the sake of one day.

@33goingon64 I am surprised that people ARE following the rules because everytime I mention the restrictions I'm met with eye rolls and it seems most people where I live are not following them in the slightest... If anything, I am seen as being "anal" about it because I try to keep my distance

It won’t make any difference to us.

Dd will be returning home from college (allowed)
We, as a household will be bubbling with the in laws from 2Dec (fil lives alone except for mil who requires constant care for dementia) allowed

I work for a family business in a socially distanced office every day along with my parents, brother and niece. We provide an essential service and are on call over Christmas.

Ds’s girlfriend will visit under the rule of 6 (I’m assuming outdoor under our car port as I’m expecting Tier 2.

We’ll be seeing who we want. MIL and her husband 23rd. My parents Xmas day (and my brother and his baby, but they live with us anyway) and FIL and his wife 28th. MIL and FIL will be seeing their partners kids/parent and also DHs sister.

We’re planning to stay home, hopefully it won’t be too long before we can do the family thing more safely, but I don’t think now is the time.

My mental health cannot take much more but we will be staying at home just us. My parents and siblings are doing the same.

We won't be seeing any other household.

I'd rather we all stay apart and be absolutely sure we don't share Covid with any family members.

Just our household, all our family on both sides have decided either to spend it just their household or in one case are bubbling with one single other person. It’s one year, it’ll be perfectly fine. Looking forward to choosing food, activities etc without having to please anyone but us.