As the virus continues to disrupt the summer season, some families are already turning their attention to a new concern – what will COVID-19 mean for Christmas?
On The Hard Shoulder this evening, author and mother-of-seven Jen Hogan said ‘COVID-fear’ has kicked off her Christmas shopping earlier than ever before.
She said her children will sit down and write their letters to Santa in a couple of weeks’ time.
“If you just think back to earlier on the summer or never mind that, back in the Spring, with the really long queues outside the shops […] none of us really know what the future holds in the next couple of months and I think it is probably best to be prepared,” she said.
“It is not as easy when you are dealing with small children. Older children have a better idea of what is going on, but I think it would do no harm to get a bit organised.
“So, I have started already.”
She said the virus has made her nervous that Christmas will be “very different experience” this year.
“Everything keeps changing,” she said. “I don’t know how it is all going to work with the potential for further lockdowns, not only in terms of shopping but in terms of seeing family or anything like that that might happen.
“So, I want to control the controllables. That is what I am feeling.”
A jam-packed Grafton Street as people shop under the winter festival lights in Dublin with five days to go to Christmas, 20-12-2020. Image: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNewsMs Hogan said even online shoppers might find things more difficult this year if they are not prepared.
“The supply chain has also been interrupted,” she said. “You can see that in the shops already.
“You are seeing a lot of the same stock maybe not being replenished because of factories having to shut down around the world or different closures having different impacts on different stores.
“So, it is going to be different and the kiddlywinks will have to take that into account when they are asking for presents from Satna.
“I think for everybody this year, COVID has taught us an awful lot about expectations and managing expectations, and that has filtered right down the line to kids anyhow.”
A customer carrying two shopping bags at the Stern-Center shoping centre in Potsdam, Germany, 24 November 2015. PHOTO: RALF HIRSCHBERGER/DPAMeanwhile Frank Conway, founder of Moneywhizz, said early planning can stop families getting into financial trouble when the holiday season begins.
“Christmas is a very emotional time and we know there are a lot of triggers when it comes to spending,” he said. “Often we will say there is nothing I wouldn’t do for my child. That is really important but by the same token, planning is really important.
“We are in the middle of August; we are getting into September and then the months will just absolutely fly … so the issue there will be, are we allowing enough time or are we getting into panic-buying at the very end?
“That is where sometimes we maybe overspend a little bit. So just allow a little bit of extra time for the delivery of packages or for sourcing items and gifts and then just spending time together as a family.”
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