The Holiday Rush


I just wrote a short paragraph for one of my internships regarding this year's holiday season and the different stressors that people are feeling.  Just like the gingerbread cookie above shows, masks and social distancing are going to be present in many celebrations this year.  Many people are struggling with the idea that they may not be able to see the majority of their families over the holidays.  The season that is normally sprinkled with festive parties, cookie swaps, gift exchanges and reuniting hugs will now be unusually uneventful and isolated.

So how can we deal with these confusing new rules, hoping that it is just for this year?  The CDC encourages everyone to do what they believe is best for their health, even if it means staying home and remaining apart from others.  An article from USA Today said it well when it said that the ‘persistent checklist of demands which may have caused you stress and anxiety last year has been replaced by the fear of the novel coronavirus – or giving it to someone you love.’ Employers are also grappling with how to best handle holiday work celebrations. According to a survey by LinkedIn, 69% of employees are feeling stressed at this time, but they also aren’t taking as much time off for the holidays as they did last year.  I know for a fact that my own mother and older brother have been killing themselves at work lately and both desperately need a break.  They also both never plan on taking breaks and almost have to be tricked into it.  Being the mediator or the voice of reason tends to be my role within my small family.  I am lucky enough that I will be able to drive to my parents' home in NJ and spend the holiday with them, my brother and his fiancé.  I will be making sure that my mother and brother are taking some time away from work for board games, holiday movies, fancy cocktails and just relaxing.  We have all been diligent with getting tested before arriving at the NJ home - I leave tomorrow and just got my negative test results from my COVID test two days ago.  I am lucky here in MA that there are many locations that are offering COVID testing, both drive-up and by appointment.  You definitely have to be on top of your planning to get an appointment, but obviously being the planner that I am, I was able to ensure that I got a drive-up time.

My focus in my write-up for my internship was more on what companies can do for their employees during this time.  One company, FlexJobs, that has been fully remote for 14 years, offered some suggestions.  They stress the importance of keeping it simple - employees don’t need a fully loaded virtual party. In fact, many would prefer a bonus over a virtual party. For companies that don’t have the financial capacity to offer bonuses, they can show their support through virtual ugly sweater competitions or cookie recipe swaps. The idea here is for companies to show their employees that they recognize that times are challenging and ensure them that they are all in this together. 

For my own holiday, I tend to bring some silliness to ease any family tension that might arise.  I do this with ugly Christmas sweaters, jingle bell necklaces, holiday onesies and many varying Santa hats or  festive headbands.  These seems to make even more sense this year as there is nowhere to go but home!  I recently bought a new board game and plan to have the family try to learn it while I'm home.  I also have been wrapping presents for the past few nights to bring to put under our Christmas tree.  I am a big gift giver, so I may have gone overboard...... but I know the gifts will make others smile and spread some happiness!

While many things might be different this year, we will still try to maintain as many traditions as we can.  We won't be able to go into New York City to try and see a show this year.  We won't be going out to dinner on Christmas Eve.  We won't be hosting our family's annual holiday party.  We won't be seeing many friends.  However, we will still be making all of our Christmas cookies and sharing time in the kitchen.  We will still make our fancy Christmas dinner.  We will still have overnight French Toast made by yours truly on Christmas morning as we open gifts.  And, we will still share Christmas poppers and wear paper crowns with Christmas dessert.  While we will miss those traditions that are absent this year, we all know that it is for our own safety and the safety of all of those around us.

So for those who can see some of their family this year, do it safely.  Make sure that you all get tested and stay home for the most part.  Invest in some board games, bake some cookies, hug the people you can be around.  And look to the future.  

As we've seen, the COVID vaccine is starting to be distributed and we can hope that the pandemic is slowly coming to an end.  That is my Christmas wish.

HO, HO, HO!

-Vicky

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Waves

Image
I've recently started doing some research on the recommendations for women when they begin trying to conceive (TTC - a new abbreviation that I've become aware of).  The internet, as many of us know, can sometimes be a bit of a black hole.  You go in looking for one thing and come out with a million more questions and even more confusion than you started with.  Which is why, I didn't JUST go to the internet.  I also sent texts out to all of my friends who are already mommas and asked them to share with me what they did during this stage. What I received from friends was a sense of excitement that this journey was close to beginning for me, knowledge sharing about what worked for them, questions about the timing we were considering, and ultimately just support and an offer of being there for whatever questions come up during my research & the process in general. I maybe shouldn't have chosen the week of my period to dive into all of this.... as most women know, hor...
Read more

Keepin' it 100

Image
  I am a proud member of the millennial generation, less commonly known as Generation Y.  Born in 1991, I sit somewhere in the middle of the generation, which spans from 1981 to 1996.  When you read about the millennial generation, I find that a few things stand out. Millennials are mainly the children of Baby Boomers We came of age with the internet in the 90s-2000s; Most of us didn't have cell phones until 7th or 8th grade.  We remember dial up-internet & often cringe when looking back at how we used Facebook in high school.  Most of our computer and video games had educational elements. We also have lived through a number of once in a lifetime  global events, namely: Creation of the Internet (mid to late 90s) 9/11 Terrorist Attacks of 2001 - I was in 2nd or 3rd grade. Hurricane Katrina (2005) 'The Great Recession" (2007-2008) Student Debt Crisis Housing Market Collapse 1st Black President (Obama - 2009) Gay Marriage Legalized (2015) Trump Elected (20...
Read more

Stoplight

Image
I've recently started seeing a new therapist.  As you may have seen from my last post, I've also been thinking about visiting smash rooms to let out emotions (still haven't managed to try one out yet!).   For me, therapy has always been a space where I am able to get vulnerable and real with someone who really doesn't know me.  And even though it happens every time I return to therapy for support, I'm always surprised to hear the shock that many mental health professionals have at my steadfast and lofty standards, for myself exclusively.  These standards, of course, began for me at a very young age. In psychology, the concept of nature vs. nurture is often discussed.  This is the idea that both nature and nurture play a role in how someone turns out. Experiments have shown that even identical twins can develop significant differences when they grow up in different environments.  Most research, however, eventually posits that both nature and nurtu...
Read more