Holiday Celebration Tips During COVID

Holiday Season & COVID

It’s amazing how fast the year has gone and we find we are fast approaching the holiday season. The holiday season is usually a happy time for most people and families, but this year with COVID numbers rising in most of the United States, it’s a holiday season mixed with extra stress. The holidays can be a stressful time anyway for many people, but this year with COVID there is an extra dollop of stress involved with the holiday season.

We have our expectations and pictures of what the holiday season should be like compared to what we think is possible this year and there is definitely a difference between past holiday seasons and what we will be able to experience this year for many of us. I have really coached my kids and myself to not dwell on what past holidays looked like, remember them yes with fond memories, but realize we can create new and innovative ways to celebrate the holiday season this year that will also create some good memories going forward.

New Holiday Tradition Ideas

COVID gives us the opportunity to be creative and start new traditions for our families this holiday season. We have had friends share some really many good ideas with us recently that we want to pass on to you so your holiday season can be as merry as can be. Try thinking outside of the box and have fun coming up with new ways to celebrate.

Keep Your Holiday Parties Small

Instead of hosting a large Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner this year, try to keep your celebration to immediate family, your pod. We are fortunate in Sonoma County that our weather should be somewhat mild during the holiday season. So our family came up with a compromise, we are celebrating Thanksgiving outside, just like the original settlers did. I’ve just told everyone to bundle up and we are setting up tables and chairs on the deck, so we will have lots of fresh air and social distancing to keep us safe. With COVID this year, it was important to me to come up with a way to still celebrate Thanksgiving, but also keep everyone safe as can be.

If your family isn’t close by, you can always celebrate Thanksgiving via Zoom. It’s not the same as celebrating in person, but especially if a number of your family members are of more mature age, it does keep everyone as safe as possible. Keeping your Thanksgiving small this year has its benefits of saving you money, having less to cook, and also less to clean up.

Do a Recipe Exchange

Having evacuated two years in a row I realized one of my most treasured items was my family recipe box. It wasn’t so much about the recipes, but that all the people that had contributed to the recipe box had passed away and the recipes were all handwritten that made them so special. So creating a recipe exchange between friends and family would be a wonderful way to have some wonderful memories from this holiday season. Once you have completed your recipe exchange you could always use an online service to put the recipes together in a recipe book to commemorate this holiday season!

Set Up a Gift Exchange Online

I have friends across the United States and many of them are in areas that are getting hard hit by COVID right now and many of them have set up gift exchanges within their friend list on Facebook. It’s a great way of sending some happiness to another person during the holiday season and depending on how many people opt-in from your friend list, you could end up with lots of holiday gifts coming your way also. I have also seen friends set up gift exchanges through their neighborhood, children’s school, and their church. It’s a wonderful outreach to do for your community and most of the gift exchanges I’ve been invited to ask people to spend between $10-$30 on a gift.

A New Twist on the Progressive Dinner Party

As a neighborhood, you can have people sign up to make their favorite dish within a category. People can sign up for side dishes, entrees, appetizers, desserts, or vegetables. So you are only making a dish once but in a large quantity, then on the progressive dinner party night deliver your chosen item to each family on the list. It’s a wonderful way of connecting while social distancing, plus you get to eat food maybe you wouldn’t prepare, and our group is also sharing the recipe for their dish when delivering. If you want to keep it really simple and storable, keep the exchange to desserts, everyone has a sweet tooth during the holidays and would appreciate a home-baked gift.

Plan a Virtual Shopping Trip with Friends

Holiday shopping is a major family tradition for a lot of people. Black Friday has actually started already with lots of retailers online. Pick a day with friends to go virtual shopping at the same time. Share the websites you will be frequenting with each other. Open up your favorite messaging app and share links, photos, a great deal, and potential gifts you think your friends might like to purchase.

Shop Local with Small Businesses

Small businesses have struggled this year with the COVID-19 pandemic. Consider purchasing gift certificates for family and friends from local businesses. Many local businesses are following COVID protocols and limiting how many people can be in a store at a time, so in-person shopping locally is still possible. Remember that when we support Main Street it keeps our communities strong and robust. I believe all of us want to see our communities thrive and collectively get to the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic with some of our favorite stores, restaurants, and service businesses still doing well.

Consider buying a gift certificate from Crystal Clear Home and gift someone a clean home for the holidays. We follow strict COVID protocols at Crystal Clear Home and a clean home reduces stress and keeps your home more germ-free. Just give us a call to order at 707-827-3316 or fill out our contact form and one of our team will get back to you promptly.