What does cancelling Christmas actually mean?

[User135644]

A lot of talk and fear now that Christmas is going to be screwed again with this new variant causing a lot of fear and panic.

What does that actually mean though in practice? Christmas to me is spending time with family and i'll be doing that regardless. They aren't going to stop people visiting relatives this year (at least not locally).

Last year I broke the rules on how many people you could have in your house and for how long. If there are restrictions this year I will be breaking the rules again.

I’ll be 100% having Christmas unless this new variant is extremely deadly. Which it almost certainly won’t be.

We’ve been nattering about it on the family WhatsApp & the in-laws WhatsApp. We’ll be carrying on as normal. None of us are worried, not even my CEV mum. We’ll probably lateral flow before we go to relatives houses etc.

[quote julieca]@VikingOnTheFridge I think it is unusual over Christmas never to go out for a meal, to see a nativity play, to go to a carol concert, or any other gatherings in public venues people do for Christmas. So I suspect you may be in a minority. It would affect my Christmas.[/quote]
I may very well be, but that doesn't mean the people whose posts you're commenting on aren't correct in our appraisals of our own circumstances. Of course if your Christmas would be affected by restrictions you have no choice but to comply with, I'm genuinely very sorry about that, for you and everyone in that position. I know I'm fortunate.

Does anyone think this Govt will bring in restrictions before Christmas? Really?

They are far more likely to do nothing at all and wait until January when we've all spread it everywhere over Christmas!

They should really be bringing in plan B now to stop it spreading when it gets here, because get here it will.

To me it means pausing group gatherings in public venues, no pantomimes or markets and perhaps people spending Christmas in their own homes. There are many, many people this would impact badly upon so the concept of ‘Cancelling Christmas’ would have varying implications for some and not really others.

We still have a month before Christmas, a lot can happen between then and now. If things do get tricky with this new variant I’m not so sure people will be as cavalier this year especially the elderly and vulnerable and even if ‘officially’ it isn’t cancelled some may take it upon themselves to limit their contact with others.

@garlictwist

You know, you don't HAVE to do what the government says, right? Even if it's illegal to visit people in their homes or whatever, you can do what you want. You can make your own decisions. So regardless of what the government says, have the Christmas you want.

I can't practically do what I want if there's police at the train station stopping me, though, can I?

I don't think that will happen again this year though. But I can understand why people are jumpy after the miserable Christmas many of us had last year, and knowing it's not within our control to just avoid it by saying "no thanks, won't be doing that."

@Joystir59

Last year I broke the rules on how many people you could have in your house and for how long. If there are restrictions this year I will be breaking the rules again.

I think that is what most people will do if restrictions are introduced

I can’t see how they would enforce it there aren’t the resources to go door to door checking ! If there are fines and people do get caught out most would just pay

The fines last year were £100 in England if you paid within a couple of weeks, £200 if you didn't, we just factored them into the Christmas spending if by slim chance we got one

@Dozer

Last xmas wasn’t ‘stay indoors’, restrictions on households meeting indoors.

errr yes there was? I am in Kent and it was stay at home except for essential supplies or exercise. No permitted to meet with any other households either inside or outside.

At this point everyone has to do what they need to do to stay as safe as they can depending on their own family circumstances.

I missed my nephew's first Christmas last year and don't want to miss his second, but if restrictions are brought in again I'll have to weigh it up.

Last year we had to literally unpack our bags and tell our very sad daughter she wouldn't see Granny and my mother in law was on her own. This year will be even more sad for everyone if we have to cancel at the last minute again. We don't have local family. Many, many people don't. It was also a cap on how many households could mix. I wish they would clamp everything down now so there is more chance Christmas will be safe. But the government will refuse to act until last minute again. If we don't see my mother in law at Christmas it will be July before we can visit her again. So that will be a year for her with no family visits. Its not the end of the world but its hard for her and our young children to not be sad if Christmas is under lockdown again.

I don’t think they will stop mixing at Christmas like last year as people just won’t do it. And it was advice to stay at home, in the south we weren’t allowed any household mixing at all.

I think they will bring masks and social distancing in shops etc in again and try to push hard for people to do weekly lateral flows

I doubt very much that there will be restrictions on people mixing in private households. They would be both unpopular and unenforceable.
It might be sensible to restrict mass public gatherings but I doubt that will happen here either.

As long as I can travel as planned next summer I don't care personally but I doubt if those to whom Christmas matters have much to worry about.

Your father is running the risk of losing you both, why is one lunch more important than that? I understand your mum is ill, but she may also be at risk. I think WW3 is probably preferable to a new year spent in an ICU so I would go with that option. Get your dp to back you up all the way or even your dr to put it into writing why your condition is so serious with covid.

You should not have to do this, a loving parent would put your well being first NotMyCat

@leotardrock

Does anyone think this Govt will bring in restrictions before Christmas? Really?

They are far more likely to do nothing at all and wait until January when we've all spread it everywhere over Christmas!

They should really be bringing in plan B now to stop it spreading when it gets here, because get here it will.

Totally agree with this.
If restrictions are brought in, it will all be done too late - like the last minute cancelling of Christmas mingling and the one day back in school before closing them until March 8th except for keyworker and vulnerable children of course.

If there is a high risk of transmission and increased risk from the new variant, then we will do what we need to do to keep ourselves and others safe.

As I said previously, many people lost family members due to Christmas Day mixing last year.

@garlictwist

You know, you don't HAVE to do what the government says, right? Even if it's illegal to visit people in their homes or whatever, you can do what you want. You can make your own decisions. So regardless of what the government says, have the Christmas you want.

As a family we will 100% be having the Christmas we want.

My 'responsibility' to the rest of society ended long ago. The government no longer gets the dictate my responsibility to my family.

Add to that the fact that for a couple of elderly family members this may be the last Christmas they ever share with us.

You do you. This year, we're doing us.

@garlictwist

You know, you don't HAVE to do what the government says, right? Even if it's illegal to visit people in their homes or whatever, you can do what you want. You can make your own decisions. So regardless of what the government says, have the Christmas you want.

...this is probably why we are in such a mess with CV, people with zero knowledge, deciding what they will or wont do.

@Skysblue

Last year we weren’t allowed to mix indoors with people we don’t normally live with.

But unless you’re amnesiac, you know that.

So I guess this post is some lame attempt to be provocative 🤷‍♀️

Yes we were. I went to a friends, as I normally do. There was a limit on the number of households though. We were 3 households.

I'll be very willing to stay away from elderly in-laws, and other vulnerable people. I'm happy to follow nearly every coronavirus rule, and I have done, carefully. I'm triple vaccinated. But I can't live with not seeing my own child at Christmas, who is not married. That would be too much to expect, that we are all here at home and she is not.

this is probably why we are in such a mess with CV, people with zero knowledge, deciding what they will or wont do.

Oh stop. The vast majority have done exactly what has been expected of us for the last 18 months while the government kept changing the goalposts at every turn. Some will continue to do whatever is expected and that's their choice. As for the rest of us.. We. Are. Done.

I have a nice hamper on order in case we have to drop it by my mum-in-law if there is another lockdown, and I’ll put in some Christmas dinner in it and some fizz if we can’t celebrate together. Luckily, she’s only about 20 minutes away, And DH and I will do as we did last year, and celebrate at home. The only thing left to get is the tree and post the Xmas cards, decorate the house. All the presents are being sent mail order, the food is in the freezer. Not getting caught out this time. If this variant means there has to be a new vaccine (the spike protein is different), then we may well have another lockdown. The good thing is Moderna can develop a new vaccine in 6 weeks, with a 100-day rollout.

@PriamFarrl are you really that blinkered to what is going on elsewhere in England?
The south could NOT mix AT ALL. It was stay at home except for essential supplies or excercise. for many counties
My elderly parents couldn’t see us or any of the grandchildren at all and their food all went to waste.

I almost wish it would be then I could avoid some of my family...... the ones who make no effort but expect everyone else to dance rings around them.

I think people’s willingness to follow the rules for the greater good has been seriously compromised by the number of times they’ve seen Johnson himself breaking the rules- his wife’s friend came to stay for Christmas when nobody else could travel, he waltzed around a hospital with no mask despite requests from the staff, he minimised the Cummings lockdown breaking in the early days. His total and utter pisstaking makes everyone else feel like a mug- he kept his wife off his case by bringing her pal in, while rule-obeying PPs on this thread missed their last chance at a Christmas with sick and elderly loved ones.