Holiday Survival Guide

Usually, the holiday season is full of festivities with family and friends. This year, the festive season is not cancelled, but it will certainly be different. So here's a guide to surviving the holidays in the age of covid.

 

Enjoying the joys of winter

Mother Nature, we need your cooperation. We need snow (in Quebec, anyway) and good weather, not too hot, not too cold.

Take advantage of this forced break to fill up on fresh air. And there's no shortage of activities: skating, cross-country skiing, sliding, fat biking, snowshoeing, hockey, building snowmen, igloos and forts...

What I love to do in the evening is to walk around my neighbourhood to admire the decorations that light up the houses. It's simply magical!

 

Encouraging virtual meetings

Family reunions and parties with virtual friends, I agree, are not ideal. It lacks pecks and hugs. It also lacks Grandma's dumpling stew and Uncle Fernand's creamed sugar. It also lacks games of Queen of Spades and Twister. I agree, but...

It's better than cancelling everything completely and not seeing each other at all. If the pandemic had happened in 1990 or even in 2000, the situation could have been catastrophic. But today, with technology, all is not lost. You can create unforgettable moments with video conferencing.

And with a little research, you can find games to play in virtual mode. I invite you to discover the Board Game Arena site, which offers over 250 free board games for all ages. For its part, Défi-Évasion, a Quebec City company, has decided to innovate and adapt to the situation by creating virtual escape games. There is no doubt that young and old will love The Mystery Gift or Night of the Monsters.

 

Slow down

Take the time to... do nothing. Only doing what you want to do. When was the last time this happened to you? Take the opportunity to slow down and rest.

Here's my suggestion: ask each family member to write down three activities they would like to do on three pieces of paper. Put them in a jar and take turns picking out a suggestion. You may be surprised at what everyone wants. Often it is the small things in life, which seem the most trivial, that give the most pleasure.

In closing, I wish you a magical holiday season. Create wonderful memories for yourself. And above all, try to maintain this slower, balanced rhythm: eat well, drink plenty of water, get enough sleep, move around a little every day and, last but not least, take time for yourself, for your partner and for your family.

A very Merry Christmas and a harmonious and balanced 2021!