Celebrating this Christmas season quarantine style was nothing I could have imagined.
When I think of the Christmas season, I think of: extended family visits, group caroling, parties with friends, malls full of holiday sights and sounds, visits with Santa, ugly sweater contests, Salvation Army bell ringing, carriage rides, and social gatherings galore.
At first, the thought of celebrating this Christmas season quarantine style, depressed and saddened me.
Since I don’t like feeling this way, so I ordered myself a spiffy new notebook, and started writing/drawing out ways I am going to make this Christmas season special.
I have decided that no matter what is happening in the world around us right now, this season will be extraordinary!
Unprecedented Times
As I tell my children, we are living through times that will be written about in history books one day.
This Christmas season quarantine style is one we will never forget.
My grandchildren will one day be asking my children what was different during the pandemic of 2020?
My great-grandchildren will want to hear the stories of how their grandparents survived a Christmas season in the midst of a pandemic.
Attitude Adjustment
With a renewed perspective on the importance of creating a memorable Christmas season, quarantine style, for my family, I’m ready to dive into some new and creative ideas.
I have decided to share my ideas with you since you may also be struggling this season.
The Christmas season is a season of JOY and I’m not going to let anything steal that joy from me!
So here is a list of some of the activities I’ve decided we’ll be including in our quarantined Christmas season this year:
- Window decorating contest! Each family member(parents and children alike) will choose a window, a theme, and get to decorating. I have some Chalk paste that we will be using so it’ll wash off at the end of the season. I will then invite, via social media and phone calls, friends and families to drive by and vote.
- Christmas cards! We have fallen out of the habit of handmade Christmas cards, and this year, we will be bringing it back! This weekend I plan to bring out all my paper crafting supplies. We will sit down together and make cards for all of our loved ones, near and far….family, friends, neighbors, nursing home residents, hospital workers, and other essential workers.
- Recipe books! My family is going to create our own recipe books that each child will then have to serve them for years to come. We will compile all of our favorite family holiday recipes, ask family members for recipes that they usually share with us, and ask friends to share with us recipes that they often bring to holiday social gatherings. We will also scour Pinterest to try a few new recipes and then decide if we want to add them to our Christmas Quarantine Recipe Book 2020.
- Art projects! I have created a list of ideas that we are going to try, and I will share them in a later blog post. Our home will look like a DIY Christmas shop.
- Board games! We will play a board game each evening together as a family. We have so many and we don’t often enough make the time to play them.
You can find my family’s favorite board games in an earlier blog post:
https://learningisawayoflife.com/my-familys-favorite-games/ - Christmas movies! We are going to watch as many classics as possible. After those, we will add in some newer ones that we haven’t seen before.
- Christmas carols! Since Christmas caroling isn’t an option this year, we are going to look into the history of our most beloved carols. We will make our own Christmas Carol History book. Personally, I cannot wait to learn the meanings and originations of so many of the carols we sing each year.
- Handmade Christmas tree ornaments! We’ve been doing this for a few years, but this year we’ll be taking it to the EXTREME! We will make ornaments for our tree; the trees outside our home; ornaments to send as gifts; and to decorate the windows.
- Read-alouds! Even though my family is well past the “read to me” stages, we are going to take turns reading aloud. So far, we’ve chosen Charles Dickens The Christmas Carol and A Little House Christmas Treasury.
- Christmas Book Club! I’m still working out the logistics, but some of my children are very social, and we all love books. We will be hosting some type of virtual/zoom book club. We will all read the same books and discuss them with friends and family. Hopefully, we will also include some art and food projects. After all the details are worked out, I will share more about this in a blog post.
I know this Christmas season will be different than anything we’ve experienced in the past, but I am looking forward to making it magical.
I’d love to hear some of your ideas for how you will make this Christmas season, quarantine style, special for your family.
I just love this post and the attitude behind it. This is the best way to approach Christmas by focussing on what can be done, rather than what we are limited by this year. Your creative suggestions are fabulous, not just because of the pandemic restrictions – they would be great for any Christmas. At your current rate, you might actually find that this might turn out to be one of your most enjoyable Christmas times ever! I’m going to ‘borrow’ some of your ideas for this season as well. Thanks so much for sharing your inspirations and best wishes for the season.
Thank you!
I’m really hoping that this is an amazing Christmas season for so many people.
Merry Christmas season 🙂
We’re not going home for Christmas this year either, but I love the idea to make your own cookbook; food is an amazing way to be connected with others from afar – especially when it’s a delicious family recipe!
I agree and it will make a great keepsake!
I love that even with all that is going on we can still celebrate togetherness with our loved ones. These ideas were wonderful. I love the window decorating contest, and of course creating handmade cards.–One of my favorite things to do.
I love how you have taken this uncertain situation and flipped the script, choosing to look at it in a more positive way! There are many things we won’t be able to do this Christmas Season but that won’t stop the magic of Christmas..it’s up to us to make it memorable. As you said, this is history in the making and we’ll be telling the generations to come about Christmas in the midst of a pandemic. Happy Holidays to you and the family!
It’s great that you are working on making this Christmas memorable. We are a very small family, so not much will be different for us this Christmas. I was able to fly home to visit my family early, which my isolation period will be over by mid December. That way, I can enjoy spending time with them without worrying that I’ll infect them!
I have enjoyed this holiday season much more than I expected to, to be honest. It is nowhere near normal, I agree with you! I often feel like I am behind in everything, especially gift shopping. Yet when I look at how thanksgiving was spent, it was still perfect, despite not being normal or traditional. I think too often we struggle with letting go of what is normal or traditional, and embracing what isn’t. Your post and the attitude behind it are a great reminder on exactly how to enjoy it.
Some really great tips here. You’re right, it’s so important to look at this time with a positive attitude and make the adjustments needed in order to still have a great Christmas. I love your ideas here, thank you for sharing!
I am going to be watching some Christmas movies for sure. Christmas in our city here in India is celebrated in a big way. With situation still a little far away from normal it surely wouldn’t be so exciting.
These are some great suggestions. I live quite a distance away from my family, unfortunately. On a normal year, I would travel up to visit with them over the holiday season. One of my favourite things to do when we’re together is to play Euchre with my mother, her boyfriend and my husband. This year, we were lucky to find an online Euchre option that includes video chat. We have a standing weekend game going since the temperature started to drop. I’m SO excited about that time together, even if it’s virtually!
Christmas this year will surely be different for everyone. We only allowed Max 8 people indoor for Christmas diner in Scotland. This will be handy for everyone to be honest.