Dec 6, 2020
How to Keep Holiday Traditions Alive During Covid-19
Holiday Traditions are very important to me. Are they to you? I like to go to parties and have fun during the holidays but more important to me than the parties are the time-honored holiday traditions that have been passed down through the generations.
These traditions are intended to be shared with family and friends as we gather together to celebrate. I’m missing the gathering together.
I recognize that I am not alone feeling this way. How could I be when we are all experiencing the pandemic together.
If you follow my blog, you know that I am a glass half-full kind of person. I am always looking for the bright side to a situation. With that in mind, I have come up with some ways to keep those holiday traditions alive for me while being covid safe. Maybe one or more of these ideas will help you, too.
6 ways to keep some holiday traditions alive this year
Go to a Botanical Garden
No matter where you live there is bound to be a botanical garden not too far from you or at least an outdoor park.
In Atlanta, the Atlanta Botanical Garden does a fabulous display during the holidays called Garden Nights, Holiday Lights. People buy tickets to wander the gardens at night and gaze at the beautiful holiday lights.
If the botanical garden near you doesn’t do this, plan an outing during the day with your family to be in nature and admire the gardens. Gardens are beautiful, even in winter, as something is always happening in the garden.
Decorate a tree
I decorate a Christmas tree inside my house and have in the past decorated trees outside with my children and their friends. Decorating tress outside is lots of fun!
Do you have a yard? Decorate an outside tree with pinecones, peanut butter, and birdseed. The children will love creating these decorations and the birds will be happy too. You can even string popcorn together as a garland for the birds.
You can get together with another family. Wear masks, stay physically distant, and enjoy some fun time outside.
If you can’t do this together, maybe each family can decorate their own tree and then share the photos on Facetime.
Have a snowman building contest
Is there snow on the ground where you live? One of your holiday traditions might be to build snowmen together. Why not have a contest? Get everyone outside and bundled-up in their snow gear. You can decorate the snowmen with carrots, sticks, scarves and anything else you can think of.
Do you have room for an outdoor firepit? If you do, get it going and then serve hot chocolate out by the firepit. Click here for a great hot chocolate recipe for a crowd.
Read holiday stories
I love to read to children and have lots of holiday story books which I hope to read to my granddaughter. Since I can’t be there to read them in person one way to keep this holiday tradition alive is to read to them using the Portal. You could use Zoom, Skype or any other online platform.
Sing carols
Singing Christmas carols in church is another one of my favorite holiday traditions. My plan, and maybe you want to do this too, is to sing-along to my favorite Christmas carols at home. I will be doing this all season long.
Bake Cookies
I bake cookies all the time but there are certain cookies that I only bake during the holidays. I will be continuing that holiday tradition this year. In the past, I have given cookies out to people as a party favor at my Christmas party. Since there won’t be a party this year, my plan is to deliver cookies to the people who I usually invite to my party.
Relax
When I was teaching school, one of my favorite things to do over the holidays was to relax and just hang out with friends. We’d sit and talk for hours and hours about everything and nothing. I don’t live near these friends anymore, but it has occurred to me that using technology we can still hang out.
Think about your favorite holiday traditions and decide which ones you can modify due to our current circumstances. Naturally, there will be some that may have to wait in the wings until next year but there will be some, like decorating trees, baking cookies, reading stories, singing carols, and relaxing that we can still engage in just differently.
Diane N. Quintana is a Certified Professional Organizer® owner of DNQ Solutions, LLC and co-owner of Release, Repurpose, Reorganize in Atlanta, Georgia. Diane specializes in residential and home-office organizing and working with people affected by ADD, hoarding challenges, and chronic disorganization. Please contact Diane for a free 30-minute phone consultation.
