Mary Angel

(12/2020) Christmas is right around the corner and then a week later the New Year. Is this possible? We have weathered quite a storm this year and it is hard to believe all we have been through. It seems like Covid is the topic of every conversation. Even when a conversation does not start with Covid, eighty percent of the time it ends there. I don’t know about anyone else, but I am tired of it. I know it is an important topic, I just want to go back to some sort of normalcy. That is what the holidays are for us.

I have spoken at length about how much I love traditions; this is their chance to shine. Traditions are going to save Christmas this year. My hope is that, through traditions, my family will be able to feel a minimal amount of normalcy. Traditions can create a sense of comfort and control. Both are super important in a time when none of us have the control we used to enjoy, especially not our kids. This is the time of year when we can follow all the CDC and state guidelines for social distancing and hanging out only with members of our household and still have a marvelous holiday. There will be family and friends that we will want to see, but that is what Zoom is for. There are plenty of fun holiday games that you can enjoy on Zoom.

As for my family, we will spend time decorating the tree, baking and watching Hallmark Christmas movies and White Christmas repeatedly. When we wake up Christmas morning (not too early), we will meet by the tree to open gifts. The kids are of an age where they purchase gifts for the other members of the family and are super excited about it. It is wonderful to see the excitement when a sibling has put thought into a gift for each of them. My husband and oldest son will have their areas cleaned up before the last piece of wrapping paper hits the floor. My girls will disappear with all their stuff to their rooms before their trash is cleaned up. My nineteen-year-old son will ask if I need any help cleaning up before he too retreats to his room for some down time. It won’t be long when we call them all out for some Christmas breakfast casseroles and orange juice.

After breakfast, we will all go to my parents in-law’s space and exchange gifts there. My mom will beam with every gift the kids open and apologize that it couldn’t be more. I will comment on how my parents "over did it" again this year. Next, there will be many hours of alone time to enjoy the gifts everyone has given each other. Someone usually gets a movie for Christmas, so that is often enjoyed by several of my family members. Clothes will be tried on, whole outfits created and displayed for approval, video games will be played, and candy will be eaten too fast.

We will enjoy a traditional Christmas dinner of ham, turkey, extra mashed potatoes (the nineteen year old has suddenly realized that he loves them), green beans, corn, gravy, and my mom’s black bottom biscuits (a nickname that comes from the fact that she always burns the bottoms). The meal will happen earlier than our usual dinners so that naps (if they haven’t already happened) may be had for the evening showing of Christmas Vacation followed by White Christmas. The Vikings will be playing the Saints on our tv at 4:00 while we clean up dinner. While we watch the movies most, if not all, of us will play games. The games will be family favorites, new ones if we got any, and this year some new ones.

Although Christmas isn’t typically a travel day for us, we have in the past gone to visit family and friends on the days surrounding Christmas. This year, for their safety and out of the love we have for them, we will not be visiting those loved ones. Keeping that in mind, I have planned some alternative ways to enjoy the holidays with them. Yes, I am breaking from tradition or maybe I am just starting some new traditions. The bottom line is that all traditions had to start somewhere. So, this year I am sending several friends and family members a request for an item in a Christmas Mad Lib. You remember Mad Libs from when you were young. You would ask for words that fit certain parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective, etc.) and then insert them into the Mad Lib and read it to everyone and watch the giggles begin. This is the perfect Zoom activity to do with friends and family. We will also start a tradition of a few games of Christmas Among Us and maybe even use the Zoom screen share feature to watch those Christmas movies together with loved ones that live in Washington state.

I have heard so many people say they are done with Zoom and I understand missing your loved ones in person. At the same time, how many of us want to have a Christmas memory of insisting on seeing someone in person and then that person or someone they love ending up in the hospital because we were asymptomatic? That is certainly not a tradition I want to start or be any part of. I have also heard from some people that there is nothing to worry about because this virus has a 99% survival rate. To that I would say the same thing and add that that statistic is a very generic uninformed account of the virus. What I mean is that if you asked the elderly or immuno-compromised that might see that as a very unrealistic account of the virus. If you asked someone who lost a healthy child or young adult family member to the virus they might also argue that statistics don’t matte; what matters is putting others (even those you don’t know) ahead of yourself. Christmas is the season of thinking of others before yourself. So, Zoom, or call, or send cards, but stay safe and have a Merry Christmas.

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