Closed or Open for Christmas?

[Daisy]

My DS2 and DIL run their own retail business. They are closing on Friday evening, 23rd until 2nd January. This is their only holiday from the shop, but they are always anxious that their customers might disappear never to return. I know there are other Grannies with sons and daughters who are self-employed. How do they manage to get a holiday, or don't they?

[Oma]

My SIL works right up to Christmas eve ( who would want a carpet fitted on Christmas eve ?) I wouldn't want it but plenty do , but because he is a Carpet fitter and supplier work is very slow in January and February so he works till the last minute to have enough money to see them through the quiet lull of those two months , It's hard for self employed I think . He is lucky he can get a holiday each year in the summer he can jiggle things around and he employs 2 fitters to cover for him , He uses the same two lads each year as it's his reputation on the line , if he employed rubbish fitters he would lose business and he takes great pride in his work being a master fitter

[ZIZI]

When we had our business we only ever had the odd night away for sixteen years. We used to open until 6pm on Christmas eve (florist) and then Christmas Day we would take all the left over points and various plants etc, to the local community centre for the guests they had for lunch. We opened Boxing Day in the morning. One year I remember we had a chap who came in every month for flowers For his girlfriends grave. A couple of days before Christmas he asked us to go and lay flowers on Christmas Day on her grave for him as he had met someone else and couldn't go there. WHAT? I refused, he had a little map with her grave marked on. If it was that important he would have done it himself wouldn't he? He never came into the shop again.

My husband is working this Christmas Day. I will be up at stupid 4 o clock to take him. It isn't ideal but we have a nice life and we are fine with him working on Christmas Day, it is what you do when your partner is a shift worker. We will both be asleep by 8pm in the evening, there won't be much on the TV anyway.......

[Oma]

Zizi I wonder how many times your Dad being a Army man had to work Christmas day , I know when B was in Army he did it several Christmas's. When DD was a junior social worker she was on Emergency call most Christmas days now she's management she hasn't done that for about 10 yrs but said she doesn't mind doing it as if she had to go out it would not be for something trivial .

[Gemini]

As you know DD2 and SIL run their own business, and DD3 is one of their employees. They take a nice long break, 2 weeks over Christmas. I'm sure DD and SIL check emails and DD may do a little work from home over that period, but basically they award themselves and staff a good break.
They are fortunate to be able to, I realise that in the retail trade this isn't possible.

[Daisy]

It's a juggling act for my DS2. They don't employ any staff and the business is varied and quite complicated. Like Oma's son they know their reputation would suffer if things went wrong when they were away. Customers sometimes ask them why they don't open on a Saturday, and they explain their time with the children is important. They do an occasional Saturday, like the recent Christmas market, but the week-ends are for the girls. Plus shopping/washing/chores etc! They like having that amount of control over when and how they work and know they could earn more money if they were prepared to give up on family time. They say the time will come when the girls don't need them so much but for now they try and balance things out. It's interesting that nearly all their customers say they're doing the right thing and they keep coming back.

I remember when I was a child and my parents had a grocery shop, Christmas Eve was always a nightmare and my parents would end up tired and usually ratty with each other (I kept well out of the way!) I was a bit jealous of friends whose parents (or just dad) worked in factories etc and came home at 5 o'clock and that was it. The shop was always open until 7 then there would be all the cleaning and clearing up before we could have tea. then customers would often come knocking at the back door because they'd run out of some essential - long before supermarkets were open 24/7!

[Enfys]

DGD is a chef so always works over Christmas although I believe she has Boxing Day off this year. She loves it, though and I know they have a lot of fun when they close and have their own Christmas dinner. It does help that her boss, the owner, is fantastic to his staff and they all get on really well. We will have a second Christmas Day with her in January, but she has requested No Turkey!!

[Avo]

DIL is. Midwife so she works Christmas but this year she is on maternity leave, so we will have her with us. Other DIL has a beauty salon where
she also employs a beauty therapist, she will be working up to Christmas Eve, with additional hours as we have offered to have her little ones. It is hard for people with businesses.

[Libra Gran]

Youngest DS runs his own window cleaning business, he and the partner will only have about 3 days off. Otherwise its a case of playing catch up.

[ZIZI]

I finish on 23rd and go back to work on the 3rd January, I have to take three days of my annual leave to cover the period that is not officially Christmas holidays. OMA it is strange, I am sure you are right but I don't remember Daddy not being there Christmas morning (well apart from once when mother had thrown him down the concrete stairs for coming home drunk Christmas Eve and he cracked his ribs and he was at the camp seeing the medic we lived in West Berlin then). Most of my sites are closed for the same amount of time except Battersea Power Station which is due for hand over is is well behind schedule so they will be going in for a few days.

[Daisy]

Enfys and Avo - some jobs have to keep going whatever the day, don't they. It's hard when the essential worker has a small family though and don't really understand why mummy or daddy has to go to work when other mummies and daddies are home.

Avo - I went to the hairdressers today. My hairdresser has recently come back from maternity leave (only 2 months) and she's so busy she is actually quite glad when a few clients have phoned and cancelled because they're ill. She' not glad they're ill - but she appreciates a few minutes' rest.

LG - It must be a difficult business in the winter when the weather can make work im;possible, so I suppose they have to keep on top of everything, just in case. But I'm sure even a short break is welcome.

[Glammanana]

I am working up until Friday 23rd and closed xmas eve,then back in work the following Wednesday for 2 days finish Friday again until the 2nd January so a wee bit hit and miss in my Company obviously all the Area Managers are off for just under 2 weeks (how strange is that) !!

[Gemini]

As most of you know, my OH was a funeral director. People don't stop dying over the festive season, and in fact November to February is the funeral trades busiest period.
OH had Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day off. That was it, no other holiday could be taken over that time, not for the managers anyway. We both appreciate her being around now she is retired

[Daisy]

Glamm - The powers-that-be must have banished the area managers for 2 weeks as a sort of Christmas present to you - it gets You Know Who out of your hair.



Gem - I think you appreciate time off when for years you didn't have it, and I can imagine your OH loves being retired. I suppose most businesses have their busy and quiet times. DS2 always expects January and February to be quiet, which enables them to do some planning, etc, but last year January was busy. You just can't tell, can you!