As the winter holidays approach, perhaps you’ve begun to take part in some of the simple pleasures that many people enjoy this time of year — listening to holiday music, online shopping, reminiscing on old holiday memories. With the COVID-19 pandemic at a critical point in Wisconsin, and here in Green County, holiday celebrations will undoubtedly be different this year. But, the holidays aren’t canceled. We can still celebrate while keeping ourselves and our loved ones healthy.
The best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 this holiday season is to stay home for the holidays. Gathering with people from outside your household presents a risk for you to spread or to come into contact with COVID-19. While it is undoubtedly safest for us all to stay home this holiday season, if you do decide to gather with people you don’t live with — take precautions to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Please avoid traveling for the holidays - stay close to home. When you’re at a gathering, have people physically distance and wear a mask at all times. If the weather permits, you could try to have people stay outside. Individuals who do attend a holiday gathering should monitor themselves for symptoms afterwards, and limit their exposure to other people. If you do develop any symptoms of COVID-19 you should get tested.
There are so many ways to celebrate the holidays while staying safe at home. Food is a central theme of so many holidays, take some time to enjoy cooking your favorite holiday dishes or treats. Share recipes amongst loved ones (virtually of course), and have everyone make the same dish. You’ll know you’re all sharing a special meal from a distance.
Dec the halls! Make your home feel more festive by decorating for the upcoming holidays. Make the process more personal by creating some of your own decorations. Search online or in magazines for do-it-yourself decorating ideas. Or, tour your neighborhood and appreciate the holiday decorations in your local area.
Get the people in your household involved in these at-home celebrations! Cook together, decorate together, and try to incorporate your household’s usual holiday traditions into your celebration. You could also watch holiday movies together, bundle up for an outdoor bonfire, or sing holiday songs.
There are still options to celebrate with friends or family who you don’t live with. Throughout the pandemic technology has been a savior for connecting people — whether it be for work or for fun. This holiday season, try to get creative with what you can accomplish with the help of technology. Sharing a meal or the experience of cooking a holiday meal together can be done over video chat. You and your loved ones could also enjoy a virtual holiday trivia night, and open gifts or watch a movie over video chat. Maybe you and your family have a competitive side — have everyone complete the same holiday coloring sheet or craft and then send out pictures of the completed projects and have everyone vote on the winner.
If you or your loved ones aren’t interested in or able to connect virtually, mail is always an option. Even before the pandemic, sending and receiving holiday cards has been a special part of the holiday season for many people. You could consider leveling up your holiday card to a holiday care package for your friends and family that you would you usually give gifts to in person. Contactless delivery of gifts like a porch pick-up or drop-off could also be an option for those loved ones you live a little closer to.
It is difficult to deal with change to holiday traditions, especially when coupled with the feelings of stress or anxiety from the pandemic over the past several months. Megan Schilt, LPC, NCC and the Founder and Clinical Director of Avenues Counseling, LLC in Monroe says that it’s important to allow ourselves to feel the grief and sadness that may come with these changes in holiday tradition. Schilt noted that this is a good time to recognize what we are grateful for, and went to say “When we intentionally focus our attention on what we’re grateful for on a consistent basis (daily), we are building our own protection and resilience for handling adversity, challenges, and trauma.”
Schilt recommends having a proactive and consistent plan to manage stress. “Coming up with a list of simple activities that feel restorative, calming, and enjoyable, and then doing at least one of them each day can be very helpful for managing our stress levels and sustaining this pandemic.” She also discusses that there’s never a bad time to meet with a therapist or counselor. “They can help you to identify the most significant and problematic stressors in your life and explore ways to manage those stressors, while creating a proactive and practical stress management plan. Therapy services, like many other services around health and wellbeing, are most effective before things ‘get bad.’” There are some things that people should keep in mind as indication that meeting with a professional may be helpful: feeling sad/down more than usual in the past two weeks, withdrawing from things or people, feeling worried to the point that ability to carry out everyday tasks is interrupted says Schilt.
This holiday season be sure to take care of yourself and your loved ones. Stay home for the holidays to stop the spread of COVID-19, and connect with loved ones in alternative ways to foster a sense of connection.
— Bridget Craker is the Public Health Educator for the Green County Public Health Department and can be reached at bcraker@greengountywi.org or 608-328-9509.
