Large families facing ‘impossible choices’ over who to bubble with at Christmas
People who are part of large families say they are facing ‘impossible choices’ after new Covid Christmas bubble rules left them unable to see all their closest relatives.
Any parent with three or more grown up children faces potentially having to decide which two they would rather spend the festive season with as only three households are allowed to form a bubble together.
Families where all children live separately will find it impossible to mix legally this year, adding to the strain of what are already difficult Christmas time negotiations.
It also means couples’ carefully arranged compromises around which set of in-laws to visit on which day won’t work because rules state a bubble has to stay together once it’s formed, although you can still meet other people outside.
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Even the Queen, who has four children, is facing the same dilemma as bubble rules will prevent her usual mass family gathering at Sandringham.
Moira Wright, 56, from Chester, has two children and three step-children and only her son lives with her and her husband.
She told Metro.co.uk, she’s facing an ‘impossible choice’ over who to have over at Christmas and instead will likely only celebrate with her immediate household instead.
‘I completely understand why they want to introduce these restrictions,’ she said. ‘The more you look into it, the more you can see how easy it is to spread the virus among households so I do see why it’s necessary.
‘But it will be difficult. I think we have decided we are not going to see anybody to allow them to bubble up and see each other.
‘I would usually be cooking for 20 people on Christmas Day and a different 20 on Boxing Day so it is going to be very different this year.
‘I’ve told my daughter she should go to her in-laws and form a bubble but I know that will mean I won’t get to see her. I haven’t been able to hug her since February and that’s the hardest thing.
‘Christmas is about spending time with people more than anything so it is going to be difficult.’
Carmen Tyrrell, 21, is one of four siblings, and is also facing similar issues. All of them live separately from their parents with assorted partners and some have their own children. In total they are split over five households across Kent and Norwich.
The family have decided to spend Christmas apart this year, rather than try to negotiate the complex bubble rules.
Although Carmen is a student and could legally join her parent’s household during the holidays, she says they decided it wasn’t worth the risk.
She told Metro.co.uk: ‘We were planning on coming together as we normally do for Christmas Day but socially distanced – however we have now decided to all stay at our own homes and have it via zoom.
‘I was very anxious and nervous about getting people sick, as my parents care for our elderly grandpa and my partner’s dad has cancer. We didn’t want to be mixing and spreading.
‘My eldest sister is a headteacher of a primary school and my brother is coming back from his army training as well, so we didn’t want to catch or give anything to them either.’
Carmen said it was ‘absolutely heartbreaking’ not to be able to see her family at all in person over Christmas but she’s planning to make the best of it with her partner and cat.
She said: ‘It’s actually a bit exciting to cook my first Christmas dinner with my partner and celebrate in our little house.
‘It is absolutely heartbreaking to not be able to see my family at all, as we’re very close and have already missed out on a lot of important occasions this year.
‘This was also going to be our first Christmas not in our childhood home which my parents had to sell, so it does feel like a very lonely Christmas this year.
‘I’m really quite mad at this government for not dealing with this all sooner and wish I lived somewhere live New Zealand where they actually take Covid seriously. If we had had a proper lockdown like they had and all worn masks, we could’ve seen our families this Christmas.
‘I also feel devastated for those who had to celebrate Eid and Diwali alone, they have been so let down by this government.’
The rules are also posing problems for people whose parents are separated. Government guidance states if a child is under-18, then they can belong to both parents’ Christmas bubbles but this no longer applies for grown-up children.
Calli Kitson, 22, a freelance journalist, lives with her mum and her mum’s boyfriend while her dad lives five minutes away in Suffolk. She also has three older siblings who live scattered around the country.
Like millions of people she’d usually spend Christmas with her mum and Boxing Day with her dad but this year that won’t be possible.
She said the complexities around the bubble system have left her not wanting to bother with Christmas at all this year.
‘We haven’t really discussed it yet, we’re going to sit down at some point and try to work it all out,’ she said.
‘None of us want to do anything that breaks the rules, it’s really tricky. It feels like it would almost be better to sit it out this year.’
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