Social distancing has made Christmas in the era of the coronavirus all sorts of interesting. Families that are used to celebrating together are being forced to celebrate alone, either because of fear of the virus or due to limitations enforced because of it. This has meant that people have had to adapt to the new status quo, sometimes grudgingly, and so there have been a number of options explored on how to celebrate the holiday remotely. Thanks to the Internet and the Post Office this has been made a lot easier, but that does not mean that it has been easy. Nonetheless, there are some ways to keep Christmas magical despite the coronavirus.
Celebrating Remotely
The most obvious way is to simply celebrate remotely. This requires some coordination, but it is nonetheless possible thanks to the current technology. The first thing that needs to happen is that all gifts need to be shipped to their recipients, making sure that they will arrive before Christmas. Some companies ship products directly to those meant to receive them, so this is actually easy assuming timing is allowed for. On Christmas, everyone pops into the relevant teleconferencing channel and unwraps gifts. The best part of this is that filming is taken care of by the appropriate software; because it is being recorded everyone has their own copy of the festivities upon request.
The Secret Santa Option
For offices or other large groups, there is the Secret Santa option. This option requires that all of the names be entered into some sort of Secret Santa Generator, where the names are randomly selected for each person. This is the same as celebrating remotely, except that it only requires a single gift per person involved. Of course, this is arguably a great option from an office manager’s perspective as it limits all of the usual shenanigans present at most office parties, and helps to prevent some of the usual messes. It is also great for offices that are a little more informal than others and is great for making sure that no one celebrates alone.
Nothing Virtual About a Virtual Party
For those that wish to expand even further on the idea, there are plenty of ideas for a virtual Christmas party. This is more than just a Secret Santa; this is a full-fledged office party, just celebrated at home. This allows for a wide variety of options, ranging from karaoke to costumes, and allows everyone their choice of drinks and snacks. For those with allergies or who have other concerns, such as family, this makes for a great option and allows an office to celebrate Christmas together while keeping everyone safe.
And Then There Are The Video Games
Once upon a time, you had to come together in one place in order to play video games. Now, it is easy to play games from the homes of the individual players, and this is actually preferred by most. The upshot of this is that games allow for buying other players gifts, and some even Christmas options. Some games even allow players to visit areas designed specifically for that, while others allow other players to visit each other’s settings. While most may be thinking of the more violent games, games such as Animal Crossing were almost made for getting people together on a tropical island, making for a truly magical Christmas.
Of course, these are just the start. There are plenty of remote celebration ideas out there. It is just a matter of deciding which option will work best for your crowd, and then just charge into it. There are no reasons that your family, however you define it, should be forced to celebrate alone. It is easy to keep Christmas magical in the age of COVID-19; you just need to decide how you want to celebrate it and charge into it. There is no reason to celebrate alone as long as you have some way to communicate with each other and some planning.
