Practical Tips for Quarantined Holidays
By: Leah O'Daniel
Tags: Holidays, Quarantine, Ideas

Practical Tips for Quarantined Holidays

From a military family that’s been there.

Photo by Jed Owen on Unsplash

Yeah, I know there are a ton of hot topic guru level ‘How-To’s’ out there already. Considering that I don’t expect this one to gain a huge amount of attraction. But I wanted to offer a different spin on these lists published by internet influencers. The reality is most of us do not have an in-house chef or a sprawling house with home theaters or millions of followers at our disposal for entertainment. What does quarantine holidays look like when we take away all that celebrity fluff?

Like ours, a military family for the last decade.

My husband and I have shared many a laugh this year. Watching the panic of the prospect of quarantining for the holidays spread across our social media feeds. Or the truly laughable (to us) notion that suddenly the government is overreaching or telling folks what they can and cannot do in their own homes.

None of this is to say we have been sharing a funny, ha-ha with each other at the seriousness of COVID-19 because that is absolutely not the case. Our hearts have been broken at the millions of Americans who have lost their lives to this pandemic and we too have felt fear, loss, and a deeply seated helplessness.

We are quite accustomed to being told what we can, cannot, should, and should not do though. After all, the government via the military dictates where we live, how long we stay, when we can move, and if we are together at all for any given holiday, no matter the significance. I have spent holidays completely alone, we have traveled to our home state for them and had those days limited by my husband’s job, and we have spent a considerable amount of holidays just the two of us. And we have also planned vacations for holidays, only to get a day or two before the phone rang and we had to cut our holiday trip short.

You learn to get a little creative when you spend Christmas in a rental cabin waiting on a house to move into with nothing except an air mattress and some random odds and ends the moving company would not pack. You learn to not attach much significance to a set day or date. Because what truly ends up mattering after the fact is how you felt.

Here are some tips for navigating the pandemic holidays from a military spouse that has existed in a strange parallel universe to similar situations.

Stay off social media.

Why? Because taking in all the family photos and posts from those who can carry on with regularly scheduled holiday get-togethers will only serve to remind you what you are missing out on.

I have made this mistake an untold amount of times. Sinking further and further into the hole that is FOMO (fear of missing out) with each flick of my thumb scrolling. Don’t do it. Put your phone in another room instead. Having these post-worthy pictures in an endless supply will have a direct impact on how you feel about this holiday.

Order take-out.

Ahead of time. Many restaurants are closed for nearly every holiday normally anyway. This is amplified now with many restaurants at a takeout only pandemic policies. Plan ahead to order from your favorite restaurant the night before.

I have had pasta from my favorite Italian restaurant for Thanksgiving and chicken wings for Christmas dinner before. And you know what? Those have been some of my favorite holiday meals. Taking away the traditional food concept makes it feel less like a sad, one- or two-party occasion.

Make new traditions.

Doing this will make way for new traditions to be born. Those chicken wings I had for Christmas dinner a few years are my go-to now. It happened out of sheer desperation at the time. I did not plan ahead, and every restaurant was closed except this one, local chicken wing shack.

Make new traditions by not hyper-focusing on what you are missing. There are no actual rules for when you can have turkey and dressing. A plain ol’ Tuesday in July is just as good as a Thursday in November.

Get creative.

Literally. Work a puzzle, paint, decorate, bake, cook. It doesn’t even matter. Occupying your time with activities that also engage your brain can be extremely helpful in many ways. For one thing, it will elicit dopamine and serotonin, the feel-good stuff. For another, it can serve as a distraction and time filler. Plus, any craft can become a multi-party, family affair.

Immerse yourself in nature.

If possible, of course. Change the Thanksgiving Day narrative to be a fun hike instead. More and more research continues to emerge about how well humans respond to nature. Take advantage of this if possible, for more feel-good brain stuff.

Dedicate the day to self-care instead.

If none of these suggestions sound like you or simply won’t work for your situation, dedicate the day to practicing self-care instead. Take a long bath, read a book, fit in a workout, or simply veg out in front of the TV binging season 4 of the Crown.

Final Thoughts

Look, I’m not suggesting that this year has not sucked. It has. And to top off the year with a holiday season quarantined is pretty much salt in the wound here. But I am suggesting that there are other folks out here like me and many other military families that have become professionals at making do with the crappiest of circumstances. Aside from military families, there are many of you who may be reading this that feel the sting of not having a family at all for whatever reasons every holiday, too.

These days are workable, survivable, and thrivable.

I promise.