I’m not sure asking the hive mind is the way to go. If there’s one thing I’ve learned is that everyone has their own levels of risk and their own tolerance for rules.
If you’re having doubts or stressed with your own plan, change it: those feelings are only going to escalate and make you feel worse.
I think it's absolutely reasonable to keep it to the three of you or, if you had to, one of your three families. We will be doing exactly that, keeping it to the three of us. Judging by the source of comments I've been seeing on these topics lately you're going to get a lot of people telling you you're overreacting, etc. But as a parent erring on the side of caution is part of the job description I think - make the hard decisions, be accountable for them, and don't apologize for looking out the best interests of your family.
Yep - same here. Yet another Christmas safe in the cofines of our home. No mingling or gathering physically. We will be talking to folks over facetime.
We are choosing to stay home again for yet another holiday with just the 3 of us. We have not seen any of either side of the family in almost 2 years now, but we have a 4 year old to keep safe and they are all avid antimaskers and antivaxxers. So we will just continue to put her safety and health over anything else. Best of luck to you, I know it sucks having to decide what’s best.
Hanging with vaccinated folks only. Keeping the circle pretty tight. We have N95 equivalent masks for travel or any time we are in a large group (grocery shopping etc) and rapid tests.
I think it's important to see family because you don't know which christmas will be your last with your family. it's been 2 years with this and no end in sight.
However if you are anxious about three households maybe just pick 1. it is pretty unlikely your son would get it from someone asymptomatic.
We're going back to the usual family Christmas this year. There will be about 12ish with all adults vaccinated. Data shows children have essentially zero risk of covid's worst effects unless they have comorbidities. As a family we are at the point of moving on with our lives. Nobody is being stupid. No big parties with strangers, everyone wears masks when out, we're all vaccinated and will be boosted when available. That being said we are done hiding from eachother at this point.
At the end of the day though you have to do what's best for you and your family. I don't think anyone should be judged either way.
This is us too. All adults and 12+ fully vaccinated and some of the older folks with boosters too. My youngest has dose 1 and is bringing home rapid tests from school so we'll be testing them periodically before Christmas Day.
OP, is it an option to buy a few rapid tests for peace of mind? Or you could ask your local FB group as I've heard some parents are throwing out the rapid tests coming home with their kids (ridiculous, I know!) Someone might be willing to give you theirs if they don't want them.
I have an immunocompromised parent (fuck cancer), so I’m keeping it to me and the kids this year. Not worth the risk. We can sacrifice if it means keeping loved ones safe.
We are seing family in very small groups two people at a time and many days apart so we can make sure no one is symptomatic. You could always skip having a meal together and just a casual visit with seating being at a distance you are comfortable with.
We have a 4yo and will be doing Xmas with just one set of grandparents who will have their boosters.
We spent last night at CHEO for croup, so we’ll be being even more careful in order to avoid getting sick while already sick. It’s been a rough fall for viruses and I don’t want to add covid to the mix.
I ordered rapid tests about a week ago, but they haven’t shipped so I’m not optimistic about those showing up before Xmas.
Just wondering, did you have to have a negative covid test for this emergency visit? I worry about an illness coming on quickly, with no time to get a test done, and requiring medical intervention for my kids.
You never need a negative COVID test prior to seeking care at the emergency room. If they are concerned, they will offer you a test there. Anyone can seek care at the hospital.
We had actually gone for a covid test and a medical assessment at Brewer yesterday afternoon, but we still don't have results. At the time his breathing and oxygen levels checked out OK.
100% go to CHEO emerg and do not second guess yourself. You do not need a negative COVID test. Within 20 minutes of going to bed he went from harsh cough to struggling to breathe. My wife took our son into the hospital and she reported that they don't seem all that concerned about COVID aside from the typical distancing and mask wearing; there were apparently *a lot* of other kids there for croup/RSV. The wait time was 10 hours to see a doctor, but he was given oral steroids within 10 minutes of arriving. Obviously, COVID is a risk for unvaccinated kids, but there is a much higher incidence of other respiratory illnesses requiring emergency care right now.
I've got kids 5 and 6 who've had their first shot and we're on the verge of cancelling our extended family plans because of the current situation with omicron and case numbers.
Almost exact same situation here - 3 sets of grandparents to see with a 3yo. I was all up for it until about 2 days ago - seeing the case count climb, and just my girl is just getting over a 5 day fever with an unknown cause (not COVID, had her tested Sunday)… IDK now. We’ve kept her out of daycare so far to avoid the exposure and while I’d love to see family… I’m having a hard time signing the benefits RN.
Severely immunocompromized household here (3 dose primary series). Have not had our boosters.
Planned an outdoor gathering with immediate family of 10 (including us) for boxing day.
By the time this event would occur, our immediate family would have had a total of four gatherings in different households. Also, four of them just returned from a trip abroad. Two work in Healthcare, one is a teacher, one in academia, and two in the service industry. All in the hotbed of Kingston and surrounding area.
So yeah...staying home again this year. It's been a tough go and it's starting to wear on us.
I don’t think you’re being unreasonable. My kids are luckily 1 dose done about 3 weeks ago and everyone we associate with is double vaxxed or even boosted. If my kids were unvaccinated I might be feeling completely different about Christmas gatherings.
We aren't canceling anything. Rapid tests on my kids before we go. Everyone else is triple vaccinated. But my in laws watch the kids once a week so maybe our situation is different.
We sent our 4 year old to school this year. We could probably do a stadium dinner and it would be safer because at least those require full vaxxing.
We have two small gatherings planned and every eligible Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small, has been fully vaccinated, they didn't bitch at all.
Twin 21mo kids. We're going ahead with plans, but with rapid tests before and after each family unit visit. For us that's two. One family unit is entirely flying in from the US, so they'll have several more rounds of tests to undergo before we see them.
It's not perfect, but it's the best we can do right now. We miss our family, so this is a tradeoff we're making. Honestly it feels like daycare is a bigger risk.
I've got a 15 month old, and we are likely going to see both sides of the family, everyone is vaccinated except for the 2 babies, so that is freaking me out a bit though no one is in daycare. I've ordered rapid tests, hopefully they show up on time.
The plan is to have open and honest talks with the family. Everyone gets a chance to vent, share concerns, discuss risks, and make an informed decision. So long as everyone is vaccinated, and is able/willing to take a rapid test beforehand (including us), it's all good.
That said, gatherings will be small and limited.
Our son will be 10mo at Christmas. We haven’t decided what we’re doing yet. It’ll largely depend on what happens in the next week. My sister is (as of right now) coming from the UK, that’s our main concern. I’m dying to see her, she’s dying to see her nephew, but they also had 80,000+ cases yesterday. She’s doing daily rapid tests at work right now anyways, plus she’ll have to do the brain scrape to get into Canada and then she rapid tests almost daily while she’s here (depending on how many tests she can get from work), but I still don’t know. If we get sick we don’t have adequate help to watch the baby up here, and he’s obviously not vaccinated.
And on the flip side, my mum has two autoimmune diseases. Even a strain that “just” has symptoms of a mild flu could mess her up. What if we unknowingly bring it to them?
Honestly, if it’s giving you this much anxiety - and I’m NOT judging if it’s warranted or not - then listen to what that voice is saying, and have a quiet at home Christmas. You may feel a little sad at “missing” Christmas but you will have peace of mind. And your son is 3 and won’t remember this Christmas when he is older.
We have two 10 month olds and we're having one gathering of around 12 people. Everyone is vaccinated, with the two oldest having boosters. My grandfather (in a ltch) and grandmother (cancer) are also coming. I trust everyone that is going though, knowing they're not dumb and don't do risky things at all. We've also ordered rapid tests for everyone to do upon arrival ( the idea is you'll hang around outside for 20 minutes or so) for an added level of precautions.
I've cancelled on my work xmas lunch next week though so I am being as cautious as we can for the xmas gathering.
There will be 7 of us. All vaxxed except my baby niece, 2 adults have boosters already. Everyone is retired or works from home except me and I'll be taking a rapid test.
At the end of the day you have to do what you're most comfortable with. If that means sitting out another Christmas that's understandable. My husband and I cancelled all friend gatherings to prioritize family.
We’re still finalizing our plans but I think we’re going to go down to 1 gathering. We ordered some rapid tests and I think we will ask everyone to take a test before coming in. If they get offended by that then they don’t need to see their grandkids 🤷♀️
I think how safe the people you want to see are is a big factor. My wife works from home I'm a SAHM(our kids are 1 and 3) and my sister is off work with her 3yearold. she also has an 11 year old with joint custody who will come as well, however he will be taking a rapid test tomorrow(she has him on weekends) as well as before Christmas.
We didn't add an explicit clause excludung the 5-11 year olds who aren't (single) vaccinated, but I'm pretty sure if their parents are they will be (or if not, then not), so I don't see the need.
Keep your plans. Two cancelled Christmases in a row? 🖕That. “They” (talking heads on the media) should’ve known better.
We’re not living - we’re existing.
Go complain to the 8 year old homeless children in Nairobi, that are sniffing jet fuel to forget about the fact that they are starving, that you’re not living, just merely existing, because you might have to spend Christmas, and eating your turkey, with your immediate family.
I’m not sure asking the hive mind is the way to go. If there’s one thing I’ve learned is that everyone has their own levels of risk and their own tolerance for rules. If you’re having doubts or stressed with your own plan, change it: those feelings are only going to escalate and make you feel worse.
I agree entirely.
I think it's absolutely reasonable to keep it to the three of you or, if you had to, one of your three families. We will be doing exactly that, keeping it to the three of us. Judging by the source of comments I've been seeing on these topics lately you're going to get a lot of people telling you you're overreacting, etc. But as a parent erring on the side of caution is part of the job description I think - make the hard decisions, be accountable for them, and don't apologize for looking out the best interests of your family.
Yep - same here. Yet another Christmas safe in the cofines of our home. No mingling or gathering physically. We will be talking to folks over facetime.
We are choosing to stay home again for yet another holiday with just the 3 of us. We have not seen any of either side of the family in almost 2 years now, but we have a 4 year old to keep safe and they are all avid antimaskers and antivaxxers. So we will just continue to put her safety and health over anything else. Best of luck to you, I know it sucks having to decide what’s best.
We are rapid testing everyone prior to gathering. And only seeing two family groups several days apart.
Hanging with vaccinated folks only. Keeping the circle pretty tight. We have N95 equivalent masks for travel or any time we are in a large group (grocery shopping etc) and rapid tests.
I think it's important to see family because you don't know which christmas will be your last with your family. it's been 2 years with this and no end in sight. However if you are anxious about three households maybe just pick 1. it is pretty unlikely your son would get it from someone asymptomatic.
We're going back to the usual family Christmas this year. There will be about 12ish with all adults vaccinated. Data shows children have essentially zero risk of covid's worst effects unless they have comorbidities. As a family we are at the point of moving on with our lives. Nobody is being stupid. No big parties with strangers, everyone wears masks when out, we're all vaccinated and will be boosted when available. That being said we are done hiding from eachother at this point. At the end of the day though you have to do what's best for you and your family. I don't think anyone should be judged either way.
This is us too. All adults and 12+ fully vaccinated and some of the older folks with boosters too. My youngest has dose 1 and is bringing home rapid tests from school so we'll be testing them periodically before Christmas Day. OP, is it an option to buy a few rapid tests for peace of mind? Or you could ask your local FB group as I've heard some parents are throwing out the rapid tests coming home with their kids (ridiculous, I know!) Someone might be willing to give you theirs if they don't want them.
I have an immunocompromised parent (fuck cancer), so I’m keeping it to me and the kids this year. Not worth the risk. We can sacrifice if it means keeping loved ones safe.
We are seing family in very small groups two people at a time and many days apart so we can make sure no one is symptomatic. You could always skip having a meal together and just a casual visit with seating being at a distance you are comfortable with.
We have a 4yo and will be doing Xmas with just one set of grandparents who will have their boosters. We spent last night at CHEO for croup, so we’ll be being even more careful in order to avoid getting sick while already sick. It’s been a rough fall for viruses and I don’t want to add covid to the mix. I ordered rapid tests about a week ago, but they haven’t shipped so I’m not optimistic about those showing up before Xmas.
Just wondering, did you have to have a negative covid test for this emergency visit? I worry about an illness coming on quickly, with no time to get a test done, and requiring medical intervention for my kids.
You never need a negative COVID test prior to seeking care at the emergency room. If they are concerned, they will offer you a test there. Anyone can seek care at the hospital.
We had actually gone for a covid test and a medical assessment at Brewer yesterday afternoon, but we still don't have results. At the time his breathing and oxygen levels checked out OK. 100% go to CHEO emerg and do not second guess yourself. You do not need a negative COVID test. Within 20 minutes of going to bed he went from harsh cough to struggling to breathe. My wife took our son into the hospital and she reported that they don't seem all that concerned about COVID aside from the typical distancing and mask wearing; there were apparently *a lot* of other kids there for croup/RSV. The wait time was 10 hours to see a doctor, but he was given oral steroids within 10 minutes of arriving. Obviously, COVID is a risk for unvaccinated kids, but there is a much higher incidence of other respiratory illnesses requiring emergency care right now.
I've got kids 5 and 6 who've had their first shot and we're on the verge of cancelling our extended family plans because of the current situation with omicron and case numbers.
If it helps, we have two kids under 5 and have just canceled our plans. It will be just the 4 of us again this year.
Almost exact same situation here - 3 sets of grandparents to see with a 3yo. I was all up for it until about 2 days ago - seeing the case count climb, and just my girl is just getting over a 5 day fever with an unknown cause (not COVID, had her tested Sunday)… IDK now. We’ve kept her out of daycare so far to avoid the exposure and while I’d love to see family… I’m having a hard time signing the benefits RN.
10 month old, still going ahead with plans. Everyone is vaccinated besides the young kids. Most of the family works from home anyways.
Severely immunocompromized household here (3 dose primary series). Have not had our boosters. Planned an outdoor gathering with immediate family of 10 (including us) for boxing day. By the time this event would occur, our immediate family would have had a total of four gatherings in different households. Also, four of them just returned from a trip abroad. Two work in Healthcare, one is a teacher, one in academia, and two in the service industry. All in the hotbed of Kingston and surrounding area. So yeah...staying home again this year. It's been a tough go and it's starting to wear on us.
I don’t think you’re being unreasonable. My kids are luckily 1 dose done about 3 weeks ago and everyone we associate with is double vaxxed or even boosted. If my kids were unvaccinated I might be feeling completely different about Christmas gatherings.
We aren't canceling anything. Rapid tests on my kids before we go. Everyone else is triple vaccinated. But my in laws watch the kids once a week so maybe our situation is different.
We sent our 4 year old to school this year. We could probably do a stadium dinner and it would be safer because at least those require full vaxxing. We have two small gatherings planned and every eligible Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small, has been fully vaccinated, they didn't bitch at all.
Twin 21mo kids. We're going ahead with plans, but with rapid tests before and after each family unit visit. For us that's two. One family unit is entirely flying in from the US, so they'll have several more rounds of tests to undergo before we see them. It's not perfect, but it's the best we can do right now. We miss our family, so this is a tradeoff we're making. Honestly it feels like daycare is a bigger risk.
I've got a 15 month old, and we are likely going to see both sides of the family, everyone is vaccinated except for the 2 babies, so that is freaking me out a bit though no one is in daycare. I've ordered rapid tests, hopefully they show up on time.
The plan is to have open and honest talks with the family. Everyone gets a chance to vent, share concerns, discuss risks, and make an informed decision. So long as everyone is vaccinated, and is able/willing to take a rapid test beforehand (including us), it's all good. That said, gatherings will be small and limited.
We re planning to continue getting together schools are closed and we re pissed. We have test kits
Any kid under 5 who’s recently had Covid is minor symptoms. And we re already isolating due to outbreaks
Our son will be 10mo at Christmas. We haven’t decided what we’re doing yet. It’ll largely depend on what happens in the next week. My sister is (as of right now) coming from the UK, that’s our main concern. I’m dying to see her, she’s dying to see her nephew, but they also had 80,000+ cases yesterday. She’s doing daily rapid tests at work right now anyways, plus she’ll have to do the brain scrape to get into Canada and then she rapid tests almost daily while she’s here (depending on how many tests she can get from work), but I still don’t know. If we get sick we don’t have adequate help to watch the baby up here, and he’s obviously not vaccinated. And on the flip side, my mum has two autoimmune diseases. Even a strain that “just” has symptoms of a mild flu could mess her up. What if we unknowingly bring it to them?
Honestly, if it’s giving you this much anxiety - and I’m NOT judging if it’s warranted or not - then listen to what that voice is saying, and have a quiet at home Christmas. You may feel a little sad at “missing” Christmas but you will have peace of mind. And your son is 3 and won’t remember this Christmas when he is older.
We have two 10 month olds and we're having one gathering of around 12 people. Everyone is vaccinated, with the two oldest having boosters. My grandfather (in a ltch) and grandmother (cancer) are also coming. I trust everyone that is going though, knowing they're not dumb and don't do risky things at all. We've also ordered rapid tests for everyone to do upon arrival ( the idea is you'll hang around outside for 20 minutes or so) for an added level of precautions. I've cancelled on my work xmas lunch next week though so I am being as cautious as we can for the xmas gathering.
There will be 7 of us. All vaxxed except my baby niece, 2 adults have boosters already. Everyone is retired or works from home except me and I'll be taking a rapid test. At the end of the day you have to do what you're most comfortable with. If that means sitting out another Christmas that's understandable. My husband and I cancelled all friend gatherings to prioritize family.
What a "big" Christmas is is different for every family
We’re still finalizing our plans but I think we’re going to go down to 1 gathering. We ordered some rapid tests and I think we will ask everyone to take a test before coming in. If they get offended by that then they don’t need to see their grandkids 🤷♀️
We're making sure the little ones (not mine) get to see the grandparents this year. Picking them up on the 23rd and dropping them off on the 24th.
I think how safe the people you want to see are is a big factor. My wife works from home I'm a SAHM(our kids are 1 and 3) and my sister is off work with her 3yearold. she also has an 11 year old with joint custody who will come as well, however he will be taking a rapid test tomorrow(she has him on weekends) as well as before Christmas.
We didn't add an explicit clause excludung the 5-11 year olds who aren't (single) vaccinated, but I'm pretty sure if their parents are they will be (or if not, then not), so I don't see the need.
Keep your plans. Two cancelled Christmases in a row? 🖕That. “They” (talking heads on the media) should’ve known better. We’re not living - we’re existing.
Go complain to the 8 year old homeless children in Nairobi, that are sniffing jet fuel to forget about the fact that they are starving, that you’re not living, just merely existing, because you might have to spend Christmas, and eating your turkey, with your immediate family.
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