Hold onto your paper crowns. There’s a Christmas dinner dilemma that’s sparked a worldwide debate, and one unfortunate woman is at the centre of it.
The festive furore began when a mother revealed her plan to charge her family a small fee to cover the cost of their Christmas night meals.
“Am I being unreasonable to ask people to chip in for Christmas dinner?” she asked a group of fellow parents on the popular online forum Mumsnet.
The British woman suggested her family throw in the equivalent of less than $10 each in order to pay for the beef that “everyone wants”.
Big mistake. HUGE.
Apparently, it’s a festive faux pas for a host to ask their guests to pay for dinner, and many have labelled the mother an ungracious Grinch for even suggesting it.
"Don't offer to host if you can't afford it," one mother replied on Mumsnet, only to be echoed by a chorus of agreers.
"I'd be exceedingly unimpressed if I'd hosted and paid for in previous years and was asked to chip in," one woman wrote.
Another proclaimed the idea was "not exactly in the spirit of Christmas."
The question quickly spread across the globe as various media outlets picked up the story, including 9 News Australia who posted it on their Facebook page.
Judging by the responses on the thread, Australians are a be a bit more pragmatic when it comes to the question of who should be footing the bill.
"Why should it be up to just one household to fork out all the costs? What if it's always held at the same household every year? Everyone should be putting their hands in their pockets and contributing one way or another," the top comment reads.
Most people agreed that while money wasn't necessarily the best way to split costs, everyone should be contributing something to the meal, whether it be drinks, dessert or a few deadpan gags from inside a Christmas cracker.
Where do you stand in the Great Christmas Debate of 2016?
Top Comments
I've been hosting Christmas Eve or Christmas lunch for the past 40 years and would love to go to someone else's home for a change! But my guests have always contributed to the salads and desserts and we provided the meats and veges and did all the thinking, planning, shopping and decorating. Our numbers started out at 23 people but as grandmas and grandpas passed on and new babies replaced them, we generally hosted 16 guests each year. When my kid's we're young it suited us to have everyone to our house but as they got older and moved out then had their own children, I hoped they would offer to 'pick up the baton' and host me. They haven't as yet. As we are now retirees, costs are now quite noticeable for us so this year I've asked for them to pay for the seafood and contribute more food. They haven't complained about that and seem happy to still be coming to our place for that special time together each Christmas.
We rotate the host every year. One year Mum and Dad, the next year my sister, the next year my brother and then me. So over the course of 4 years we have all hosted. So eventually everyone has a go at paying.