This year has been anything but normal, and, with the holidays quickly approaching, you may be wondering what the safest way to celebrate the holidays with your kids will be.
Adjust Your Holiday Plans For Safety in 2020
Before you make any plans, talk to your relatives and see what everyone’s comfort levels are with getting together during the holidays. Stay up to date on all information from the CDC and the current state statistics, which can be found here.
Explain to your kids your new holiday plans. Children tend to get very excited about the holidays, so be sure to explain to them that the holidays are not canceled, but will be a little bit different this year. Tell them that you are going to make the holidays the best you can and even allow them to get involved in coming up with new holiday traditions. If your kids are feeling sad or disappointed, acknowledge their emotions, but remind them that they can still have fun this holiday season.
Going out-of-state or hosting out-of-state visitors?
Christmas and Thanksgiving are the two busiest travel holidays of the year, with families traveling from different parts of the country to be with their loved ones. But is it safe to gather with out-of-state relatives this year?
The CDC recommends staying home if possible. If you must travel, or host relatives from out-of-state, make sure to stay up to date on different states’ policies. When traveling interstate, some states require visitors to quarantine for fourteen days before doing things in the state.
If you must travel, the governor of Texas recommends wearing a mask at all times, washing your hands with soap and water for at least twenty seconds often, keeping items that you touch a lot (such as your phone or your child’s tablet) sanitized, avoiding touching your face, and keeping six feet of distance between you and anyone who does not live in your home. And never travel if you or anyone in your family has a fever, cough, or shortness of breath.
Staying Thankful During a COVID Thanksgiving
The CDC recommends having a Thanksgiving celebration with your immediate family who live in your household. If your children are used to being with extended family on Thanksgiving, come up with ways to still connect with them, even if you can’t be together physically. Before Thanksgiving, collect all of your relatives’ favorite recipes and gather all the ingredients beforehand. On Thanksgiving Day, video chat with Grandma as you are making her famous stuffing- and make sure your kids help out! This will help everyone feel more connected on this holiday.
If you have relatives in the area, you can host a small outdoor dinner. Encourage social distancing, wear masks, and limit the number of people handling the food for safety.
Another great idea to spread your blessings on Thanksgiving is to make care packages for elderly neighbors who probably won’t be able to be with their family this year either. When you are making Thanksgiving dinner, have your kids help you set aside a little bit of everything to bring to your neighbor’s house. Leave it on the porch for them to limit contact.
Christmas Preparation Tips
The CDC hasn’t released their guidelines for Christmas yet, but with it being less than a month after Thanksgiving, we can expect that they will be similar to the guidelines for Thanksgiving. If possible, it is best to stay home and celebrate the holiday with the people who live in your home.
This can be hard for kids especially, so create new traditions with them. Things like creating an advent calendar full of fun activities (decorate the tree, go on a candy cane scavenger hunt around the house, make an ornament to hang up on the tree) to getting matching family pajamas, there are a lot of fun ways you can to get into the holiday spirit.
While they might not be able to see Santa in person this year, encourage your kids to write letters to him and decorate them with Christmas stickers or they can even leave him a voicemail on his personal phone number! Kids can call (951) 262-3062 to hear a message from St. Nick himself and then they can leave him a message telling him their wishes for Christmas and wish him a very merry Christmas!
Another fun idea is to have a Christmas cookie decorating party over Zoom. Pick a day and time when your family (or your kids school friends!) can all video chat together, gather your ingredients, and bake and decorate your Christmas cookies with your loved ones. Play Christmas music and wear Christmas sweaters for even more holiday spirit!
Fun, Meaningful Holidays in 2020
Even though the holidays will look different this year, that doesn’t mean that it can’t still be magical! With extra planning, creativity, and safety measures, you and your kids can have a wonderful holiday filled with love and peace. Create new traditions, make new memories, and enjoy the most wonderful time of the year with your kids.
We at Back To Basic would like to wish you Happy Holidays!
