Holidays are a time of getting together with friends and family to celebrate traditions. However, in the year of coronavirus, your family traditions may be looking a little different. Don’t let that get you down. Holidays may be different, but holiday cheer is still bubbling under the surface, ready to break through the gloom!
7. Black Friday Online
Instead of waking up at 2 a.m. to stand in line, in the cold, at Best Buy, you can wake up, stay in your pajamas, and shop from the comfort of your home. With coronavirus being so prevalent in the United States, crowds are dangerous, and black Friday is the most crowded shopping day of the year. Stores are packed with people all trying to get doorbuster deals for their holiday shopping. Some stores even started encroaching on Thanksgiving by opening their doors on Thanksgiving evening. Not this year! This year many major retailers such as Target, Kohl’s, Macy’s and Walmart have committed to keeping their doors closed for Thanksgiving to let people have some time with their families.
With the effort to keep everyone healthy, retailers are rolling out deals earlier than Thanksgiving. A lot of retailers will have deals that start before and after Halloween even. Customers will have the chance to shop for deals as if it is a marathon rather than a sprint. This will help stores comply with the capacity limits and keep employees and customers healthy by social distancing. Along with this marathon shopping, many more shoppers will be black Friday shopping online only.
6. Deciding Not to Travel
The “no travel” trend has been sweeping the globe because traveling during the pandemic is very risky. There is no way to travel via airplane without spreading the virus if even just one person has it. Airplanes take the air and circulate it over and over again so that everyone ends up breathing in the same particles as the people around them. This is a problem that is hard to avoid, but there are other issues as well. People are worried about losing their jobs and do not want to pay money to fly or travel. People who have immigrated from other countries have an issue as well. Depending on laws implemented in certain countries, they may not be allowed back or forced to quarantine for two weeks. Americans have been banned from traveling to many countries in Europe, Australia and many other continents. This means that even if you’d be willing to go visit family for the holidays, you may not be able to due to circumstances outside of your control.
5. Thanksgiving Will be More Intimate
Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday full of family, cheer and lots of food! Getting together to eat a big meal, watch the children play together, and then promptly fall asleep afterward has always been something to look forward to. However, this year, those with big families may need to consider having a more intimate Thanksgiving with only immediate family members. It is up to you if you want to play it safe and do a smaller Thanksgiving with your own family or split into smaller groups of families of no more than ten people, but we can all agree that Thanksgiving this year will look different. Rather than the traditional giant feast, you could consider showing off your cooking skills with a specialty meal. If you are more tech-savvy, you can even opt to be around family virtually. Maybe plan a zoom video call with family members that you cannot be with this year and reach out to friends on social media to let them know you’re thinking about them during these strange times.
4. Holiday Parties Cancelled
With the cold seasons approaching and coronavirus making indoor gatherings impossible, this will be the year to spend more quality time with your immediate family members. To make things personal and maybe even to try to come up with new family traditions. Since you cannot, or at least should not, get together with your friends for your usual holiday parties, you can opt to have an extravagant party at home with your family. You can look forward to making gingerbread houses, baking cookies, making popcorn garland, or any other holiday traditions you may have. This holiday season is also an excellent time to teach your children how to cook family recipes passed down from prior generations.
3. Big Events Made Small
Whether it’s New York City’s tree lighting, ball drop or town-wide organization-sponsored menorah lightings, many of these big-city events will be canceled this year. Rather than completely skipping these yearly traditions, make them more intimate by doing it in your own home’s comfort. Dress up the Christmas tree, turn off all the lights, count down, and plug them in with Christmas music playing in the background. Light the menorah with the lights turned down, singing celebratory songs and playing dreidel at home with your family instead of completely missing out on what would have been a community event.
2. An Increase in Handmade Gifts
With many big events canceled due to coronavirus, people are left with more time on their hands. You will have more time to show the ones you love that you care about them. You can use your free time to make something others can and will use. Try out sewing, painting, woodworking, writing, etc. Taking time to do these things will not only allow you to give something special to your loved ones but will also give you a sense of “Santa’s Workshop” in your own home! Handcrafting gifts will provide you with that extra boost of holiday cheer throughout the weeks leading up to the holidays. Instead of buying gifts that only give you that sense of holiday cheer for a few hours while you shop, making a gift will provide you with that holiday cheer for weeks!
1. Intimate New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Eve has traditionally been a time to gather with friends and family, to ring in the New Year. New Year’s Eve is known for big parties and fun. However, this year, it is a good idea to opt for a quiet New Year’s at home with the family. If you are a social butterfly and want to throw a New Year’s Eve party, make it smaller by just inviting your best friends over. New Year’s can still be a blast with less than ten people there.
Although the holidays have always been a certain way, there’s nothing wrong with change. Especially since these changes will keep you and your loved ones safe. These new traditions don’t have to be sad or difficult. Try to make this year fun by trying new and exciting things! If you like them, great, make them traditions. If you don’t like them, hopefully, next year will be back to normal. Remember to stay safe and do what’s best for your family.
