Will you go to family at Christmas?

What could possibly go wrong.....

What a brilliant idea! Encourage everyone to travel all over the country; use packed public transport; mix generations indoors in often cramped conditions; encourage social mixing for five days with plenty of food and drink....it will certainly be Christmas for the virus!
And then there is all the bad feeling and guilt which will be generated in families between those who want to get together, and those who don't want to risk it, but now have no official backing.
Madness!

Yep, we`ll be seeing our daughters and grandchildren. 3 households and that`s all. Masks and hand sanitiser at the door!

I respect those of you who feel it`s safer not to mix.

Best wishes to all for whatever you decide.

For those confused about support bubbles see the official guidance on the Gov.uk
Existing support bubbles count as one household towards the three household limit. This means that if you are in a support bubble, you can collectively form a Christmas bubble with two other households. This applies only to support bubbles as set out in law. You should, however, consider the risks of doing so and keep your Christmas bubble as small as possible.
So if you are already in a support bubble this counts as one household

It will be Christmas at home, just the two of us, this year. I have got used to talking to my eldest DD on Facetime on Christmas Day, because she lives abroad, so I will just have to talk to the young one that way too. It will be hard, because it will be the first Christmas we have ever spent apart, but she says that she doesn't want to see us for a few hours in December and be burying us in January.

People talk a lot about what we are or are not allowed to do, but surely the point is to use your common sense. If you are at greater risk of serious illness and death - basically, everyone over 60 and certainly over 70 - every time you socialise, you take a big risk. Even more so if you have health conditions. The government might say that you can spend Christmas with others, but should you?

I can't imagine doing anything, and certainly not anything dangerous, because Boris Johnson told me it would be OK.

I definitely will be at my sons house for Christmas. I live alone and he and his partner and son are my "bubble". We will be joined by his 2 older sons who live away from home. It does not worry me at all. I am 71, I want to spend all my future Christmases with loved ones, not hidden away in my house alone!

No. We are hoping to move to Scotland before Christmas (a faint hope at this point), but even if we are still here - we will not be mixing with anyone. My husband is classed as "extremely vulnerable" and we both have diabetes in addition.

Silver lining48 that's fine. Let those people stay at home on their own. But don't
stop the rest of us doing what we choose too.

I agree with some of the other posts I have tried to be so careful since March and go out only when necessary. I'd love to go and see my Aunt who is 92 on 1st December as I've only seen her once this year but would rather wait as I'm sure the infections will kick off again after Christmas. Also when he "Releases" people for the 5 days on 22nd (?) the roads will be horrendous and I have to travel over the M62 not knowing what the weather will be like. So sadly I'm going to give it a miss unless there is a window of opportunity the week before depending on the tiers. She will see my Cousins at Christmas so at least she won't be on her own.

Well said BlackSheep46. I totally agree. Who knows? I might be hit by a bus in January.

To the vaccine refuseniks I say, hey, let's bring back smallpox!

Tanith, that's not how it works. It has to be 3 households in a bubble for Xmas(exclusively) and those in the bubble must NOT see anyone else outside the bubble inside the home, making us choose which family to put in our bubbles of 3 and who to not see ?.

fluttERBY123

No way, Jose. It's like putting your head above the parapet in the last hours of the war.

Well said flutterby

Sooner not have visitors rather than having to visit them in intensive care or the funeral homes.

I think people are being over optimistic about being able to celebrate in the Spring. I’m very sceptical about the vaccine. According to today’s Times many people in the UK and elsewhere in Europe are saying that they won’t have it. We also need to consider how effective it will be and how effective the organisation will be. If the local situation is anything like the flu jab we’ll have to wait a very long time and there will be many problems. I will have the vaccine for the sake of my DH and family but really don’t want it.

I don't have a family any more to go to so I'll be having my customary Christmas: a long lie-in, something special and nice to eat, maybe a duck or a piece of fish. No turkey, since even when I have catered for a gathering I've always preferred goose, and definitely no brussels sprouts. I'll push the boat out for a nicer bottle of wine than usual and I'll have a pile of favourite films to watch. I'll be perfectly happy.

I do wonder how many people actually like the big family Christmas and how many go through the motions because it's expected of them. I only ask this because I don't know, because I've never been to one. I have no grandchildren and I know from what others have said here and elsewhere that many of you enjoy seeing your own grandchildren and that's great but I think I've said before that my grandparents were elderly people who lived a long way away and who never showed much interest in me when we did see them. I can't imagine a Christmas with them around nor can I imagine enjoying it. Childhood Christmases were just immediate family and I loved those until my sister decided she preferred to spend the day with her boyfriend's big, extended family leaving young teenage me with just my parents. I felt betrayed then!

Since then I've enjoyed the Christmases when my daughter was little and others when a few friends gathered together for the day, but on the whole I'm content with enjoying one day of perfect peace!

I am concerned, though, that I will be expected to lock down ever more severely in January as the political cost of allowing big family Christmases for the sake of it.

Think that’s right greyknitter, you choose your other two and none of you mix with anyone else. Lucky for us we only have one dd so no problem there but she works mostly from home and sil is back out at work and 2xgc go to primary school.
We have been very cautious from the start and was so looking forward to getting together fir a day or so but now wondering if that is sensible, we are both 70+ in good health.
Will need to discuss nearer the time, and if course we still await our tiers which will make a difference I suppose.

I've always said Xmas should be mid Feb when winter seems never ending. The vaccine is just around the corner and it would be extremely foolish to risk getting ill for the sake of a few days. Think of the lovely xmas we would have when we know we are safe!

Sick of the whole thing.

No way, Jose. It's like putting your head above the parapet in the last hours of the war.

It still all seems a bit confusing doesn’t it. The Christmas bubble is 3 households in total and doesn’t mean you can only have 3 at a time as far as I understand. So you can’t see sons family and daughters family and then go home and they can see others. The three is exclusive. That’s what I understand from the explanation on the Gov web site. Is that the right interpretation?

On FB today there is a survey by Silversurfers asking fir views for or against the Christmas bubble arrangements. Currently 82% have voted against taking the risk.

Olive53 and BlackSheep46 you sound like my kind of people! I will be having 3 families together for christmas but have only mixed with these same people and my sister since lockdown started.

Just an idea. Why not get tested for Covid19 as near to christmas day as possible and if Negative meet up. I wonder really about all the brouhaha christmas from non believers. Is it just something else for people to moan about. I am quite sure Churches would love to see all who moan about not being able to meet up at their doors on Christmas day or anytime actually. Oh btw this is not aimed at anyone on here.

We wont be meeting up. It will be just the two of us. We've waited so long where's the sense in perhaps putting ourselves and others in danger now? I wish the government had decided to take a firm stance and put Christmas on hold.