Woman Charges Family To Eat Christmas Dinner She Spends 'Dozens Of Hours' On — Including 3-Year-Old Grandchild
Buying food is expensive.
Rawpixel.com | Shutterstock While every family has their quirky Christmas traditions, one family, in particular, isn't allowed a seat at the dinner table unless they follow this one strict rule.
In an interview with The Sun, Caroline Duddridge revealed the tradition that has been kept alive in her family for some years.
Duddridge charges her entire family for Christmas dinner—including her young grandchildren.
Duddridge, 63, who is a mom of five and grandma of six, will uninvite anyone in her family from the Christmas meal unless they fork over some cash.
Adults at the table are required to pay $18 for the meal, while Duddrige's 12-year-old and three 9-year-old grandchildren have to pay $6, and finally, her two 3-year-old grandchildren are charged $3.
For the adult women in the family, Duddridge offers them a discount because they have families and only work part-time.
"I log into my bank account and check who has made their Christmas dinner payment in November,” she said of the process.
“Once my ‘naughty and nice’ tally is done I do a quick ring around chasing my ‘delinquent depositors’ and remind them to meet their payment date of December 1."
Duddridge claimed that her adult children—aged 37, 34, 32, 29, and 24—are used to her request, which started in 2016.
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"It’s a phone call my five grown children are used to. I know some will moan and I will get excuses like ‘my pay hasn't gone in’ or ‘my bank account is frozen’ and ‘can I leave it another week?’ but I will eventually receive cash from them for the meal.”
Duddridge, who worked as a former teaching assistant, also receives a widow's pension of £1,000 a month—which is around $1,224.
She explained that she charges her family because of the growing prices of groceries.
The 63-year-old woman told The Sun that she spends "dozens of hours" scouring stores for the cheapest deals, especially when it comes to prepping for Christmas dinner.
"Every week my meal budget buys less and less so I have to be tactical in buying ingredients to make the dinner for my 12 guests,” Duddridge shared.
“Like many moms and grans who always make Christmas dinner, I couldn’t bear the cost of buying all the gifts and paying for the entire meal. I was worried I’d spend the New Year paying it all off again,” she added.
To compensate for charging her family, Duddridge allows her children and grandchildren to have a say in the menu.
As for the backlash, Duddridge claimed she isn't concerned with people calling her "selfish" because of the Christmas dinner rule.
"No one wants to be overwhelmed with debt and it’s unfair to expect one person to pay and make the entire meal,” she said.
“I know some mums feel guilty if they don’t do it all and provide a huge meal with no one else paying but I am practical."
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.