Crisis Free Christmas: A 6 Week Series

Welcome to Week 1: Enjoying the Holidays Despite Being in a Pandemic by Jessica

Okay, let’s face it, this holiday season is going to be very different for a large majority of us. Many of us will alter our travel plans, our holiday traditions, and the events we have partaken in for many years previously. It’s a crazy time with lots of changes, uncertainties, and honestly some fears. But my challenge to you is to not let the pandemic stop you from having an absolutely magical holiday season filled with happiness, joy, and wonder. 

Even though there may not be town parades, Black Friday shopping, visits to Santa, or large Christmas pageants, there are still a wide variety of activities and traditions to bring holiday cheer to your family despite living during a pandemic. 

Below is my bucket list of 25 covid conscious holiday activities (and yes, most of these are things I’d typically do but this year I want to do them on a grander scale!!)

1. Buy matching holiday pajamas for my kiddos (and maybe myself). When there’s nowhere to go, everyday is pajama day!
2. Try a complicated recipe I’ve always been too intimidated to make. Seriously, who wants to serve their first attempt (and possible failure) to a large group of people at a holiday meal?
3. Plot out all the best Christmas lights in town, load up on hot cocoa and snacks, and drive around with my family to vote on the best ones 
4. Have a themed holiday movie marathon (classics, animated, 90’s, musicals, etc.)
5. Bake an obscene amount of cookies and ding dong ditch my neighbors and friends with delicious treats
6. Donate, donate, donate. This is a super no brainer activity that allows for social distance
7. Send out a family newsletter with our Christmas cards. Seeing more than just our family picture and a signature on our Christmas card will mean the world to those we can’t be with 
8. Make our own Christmas ornaments (Pinterest here I come!) 
9. Challenge my friends to create their own ugly sweaters at home and then have a vote on Facebook for the ugliest
10. Keep a holiday diary of all the things that I’m grateful for this season
11. Learn to crochet mittens! 
12. Order a peppermint mocha from every coffee shop in town and crown one the “best cup”.
13. Create a new year prediction jar (we needed these last year) and have my family write out what they think the next year will be like
14. Hide a Christmas Pickle ornament on my tree- first person to find it Christmas morning gets an extra gift!
15. Read a holiday themed book to my kids each of the 25 nights of Christmas.
16. Create the perfect holiday playlist, in fact multiple playlists (jazzy holiday, classic holiday, country holiday, hipster holiday, etc.)
17. Send my Christmas gifts EARLY! Okay that’s not a fun tradition but it’s just good advice. Since we most likely won’t be seeing as much family as we normally do, I imagine I’ll be sending gifts in the mail. I’ll look for places that will ship directly to my recipient and keep me out of the post office! 
18. Nailed It Challenge- find a holiday themed cupcake to recreate that is way out of our skill range and then have our Facebook friends and family judge which family member “nailed it!” 
19. Celebrate the Icelandic tradition of Jolabokaflod (the Christmas Book Flood). We’ve done this one the last two years and it’s my favorite! On Christmas Eve my family gifts ourselves brand new books and special chocolate. We spend the evening reading and enjoying as much chocolatey goodness as we want, all while snuggling under our (warning: shameless plug ahead) incredibly soft Saranoni blankets 
20. Walk downtown and enjoy all the holiday window displays while sipping hot cocoa and wearing the mittens I’m definitely going to learn to crochet 
21. Let my kids “camp” under the Christmas tree in sleeping bags one night
22. Compile videos of my family and friends virtually reading Christmas stories, telling their favorite memories, or sharing things they are grateful for in their lives. This way, if things get rocky in the world, I’ll have some easy encouragement at my fingertips
23. Invest in some good fleece lined leggings and spend more time in nature 
24. Hide candy canes in my friends’ yards for their kiddos to hunt 
25. Make a list of everyone I want to zoom, facetime, call, or skype on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day so I don’t forget anyone and have enough time to tell each one how much they mean to me

This is definitely not an exhaustive list. I’m sure there will be many more things we enjoy together (even if it’s just my direct family). I’m up for the challenge of making the best out of a crazy year. I hope you are too! 

If you’d like more ideas of fun things to do with your kids during the holiday season be sure to check out our Eco Friendly Kids’ Craft Guide. We’ve compiled some of our favorite environmentally conscious crafts on the internet and put them together in one simple place for you to enjoy! 

Wishing you all a very happy holiday season!

Jessica