While we are quickly moving towards the holidays, at the same time we are watching COVID-19 cases rise significantly throughout our country. It appears we will all be experiencing the holidays under some rather intense restrictions which can really impact our typical family traditions. As we have just experienced, the liabilities of families meeting together and gathering events like Halloween can be super-spreader events. Also it is possible that children can be spreaders of the virus.
From Child Mind Institute there is a recent article by Caroline Miller about how families can be proactive about their holiday plans and still be safe from COVID-19. Here are the introductory paragraphs from this article:
As we head into the holidays, families everywhere are struggling to make plans appropriate for the pandemic. How do we celebrate when we can’t be together as usual? How do we resolve differences of opinion about what is safe? How do we deal with more disappointment and frustration — and help our kids do the same?
We can’t tell you what the right (or safe) choices are for your family, but here are some tips to make the best of holidays during the pandemic, whatever your situation. We asked our experts for advice about ways to minimize stress and help everyone in the family feel as good as possible about this unusual holiday season.
One of the initial points in this article is that parents should plan early. If our kids are a part of that planning it can be a way to help them prepare, have healthy expectations and brace themselves for the changes that may be coming this holiday season. There are some really valuable ideas in this article that can help families start new traditions and have an enjoyable holiday in the midst of a life-dominating pandemic.
I hope you will find this helpful as you begin to think about all that will be happening in the next few months as we close this very difficult year of 2020 and look forward to next year where we can hopefully go back to living and working together as families.
Gerry Vassar
President/CEO
