Tips for Celebrating the Season Safely with Your Special Someone
By: Holly Bradshaw
Tags: Relationships, 2020, Love, Holidays, Covid 19

Whether you’re in a relationship or not, you’re well aware that holiday cheer is a little more scarce this season.

Many of us aren’t gathering with friends and extended family this year because we want to help keep them safe amidst a raging pandemic, and it’s left us with a little more time on our hands.

It’s also left us with the tendency to go stir crazy and annoy the crap out of each other.

As a couple, there aren’t many fun and festive dates you can go on outside the house nowadays, but there are still plenty of fun, safe, and socially distant ways we can enjoy the holidays and spend some romantic quality time together.

I have a few ideas for ways that couples in love can celebrate a very COVID Christmas. It pains me to have to call it that, and sure, it sounds like a terrible Hallmark movie, but at least it highlights one of my favorite literary devices (I’m a sucker for some alliteration).

Here are a few ideas of how to salvage a little cheer in your relationship this holiday.

Walk together in a winter wonderland

I got the idea when I was walking with my husband to my sister’s house for a night of boozing. She’s in our tiny inner circle of people we’re still seeing amidst the pandemic, and people in the neighborhood had started lighting their holiday displays that week.

You could get a thermos of your favorite warm beverage and walk the neighborhood to take in the light displays. And, if your neighborhood doesn’t have a whole lot of holiday cheer, or if you’ve seen it all already, drive to a different neighborhood and take a jolly evening stroll together while appreciating all the light displays.

Plan a fancy & festive themed date — at home

Cook a special meal together. Make extravagant holiday cocktails and a decadent dessert. Go that extra mile with the grocery shopping and food prep for at least one night — because if we’re going to be stuck at home, we might as well make use of our time indoors by cooking an extra special “date” meal.

I’m one of the worst cooks around. It’s just not my jam. But me and my husband, in the kitchen together, doing our very best to make a special, slightly fancy meal and setting the table with candles — that reeks of date night and quality time together. No matter how badly we may botch the recipe.

Drive-thru holiday cheer

These elaborate lighting displays have popped up all over the place even before the pandemic. It’s a great way to see some bright and festive displays on a more professional level, and you still get to spend that one-on-one time together as a couple.

Maybe you’ve had all the one-on-one time you can take, but if so, it’s that much more important to get out of the house and enjoy some safe experiences away from the place we often feel confined to during COVID-19.

Ice skating

If you have access to an outdoor ice rink, this activity is still doable during the pandemic! Holiday ice rinks are following guidelines with pre-registrations and making sure the ice isn’t too crowded, so it’s as safe as can be (minus the potential for bruised bottoms and bruised egos when/if you take a spill).

Don your masks and your winter gear, and enjoy a few laps around the rink as you hold hands, listen to holiday tunes, and try to save each other from falling.

Christmas tree farm

The holiday tree farm is like the pumpkin patch of the festive season. With masks and a clear crisp day, you’re in for some fun (and socially distant) holiday memories. Even if you aren’t planning on purchasing a tree, check out a tree farm for a fresh dose of pine and an all-around winter wonderland of activities that will get your body moving and your cabin fever subsiding.

Cozy up by the fire

You know, for the sex.

But let’s slow our roll just a bit. Think about sitting with your significant other and gazing into their eyes by the warm and cozy fireside. (Or by one of those space heaters that look like a warm fire OR one of those YouTube videos with ten hours of crackling fireplace and holiday jazz — 2020 is the year of improvising, after all.)

Just taking time to really focus on each other. Maybe sip some rich hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps. Give each other a soothing full-body massage. Talk about your plans for the future, when, we can only hope, COVID-19 will be well behind us and we can do things like travel and go out on the town again.

Take the “fave holiday film challenge”

I just made this challenge up because both my husband and I are movie buffs, and we love to snuggle up with a good film. Then we like to pretend we’re the world’s best film critics and argue about the movie’s artistic merit afterward.

But in this case, it’s a double feature, and you both get to bring your favorite holiday film to the table.

I don’t care if hers is Love Actually and you've had to sit through it fifty freaking times already. I don’t care if his is Die Hard and you don’t believe it’s actually a Christmas movie. You both must agree to watch the other’s favorite holiday film — no matter what — together.

Then, if you hated it, feel free to tear it apart (once the credits are rolling). If you loved it, you can have a happy chat about why.

Have a wine tasting (at home)

You can think of any number of pandemic-friendly activities when you add “at home” to them! It’s not the same as a vineyard, but it can still definitely be a fun and romantic time for the two of you.

Add a festive twist by pairing wines with holiday-themed foods. What goes best with a Santa-shaped sugar cookie? What pairs well with gingerbread men? I have no idea, but it’s sure going to be fun finding out!

Make your own holiday cheer

This is just a smattering of the fun and festive activities couples can do together — things that will help keep you from driving each other absolutely nuts this season.

But if you get creative, I’m sure you can think of loads more that will fit your dynamic as a couple. We have technology, delivery, and a whole world of opportunities to fill the time we have together with joy and cheer, even if it’s not in the usual way.

Talk to your loved one, use your imagination, and start making good memories that will stand out as happy ones — even in the year of 2020.

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