A Very Covid Christmas by Janice Lynn

 Have you seen the social media meme touting a supposed upcoming Hallmark movie called A Very Covid Christmas? Well, if not, I'm posting it here. LOL. To my knowledge there isn't really such a movie in the works, but as we go into the week of Christmas 2020, it feels an appropriate topic for so many reasons.

Needless to say, the pandemic has significantly changed my holiday plans, and continues to make new edits in the final stretch as two of my adult children tested positive within the past week. Fortunately, they are healthy & should be just fine, but it's difficult as one lives out of state and this was the first Christmas he was going to be able to be home in several years as his wife is a hospital pediatrician who has had to work on the holidays the past several years. These continued plan changes has me thinking about how we're all celebrating this year. For me, Christmas is about family, love, and giving. That I won't be physically be with all but one of my children on Christmas day hurts this Mama's heart, but I imagine we will do Facetime or Zoom or something along those measures to interact that day. I am so thankful for the technology that allows this interaction to be able to see and hear my loved one when I can't physically be with them. It's something I imagine our military families are grateful for on a regular basis for when those precious calls come in.  I'm not asking who is getting together for Christmas and who isn't, because we each have the right to choose how we celebrate our holidays and each of our situations are different. For some, due to health reasons, it may be the last Christmas with family members so the risks may be worth taking so that family member doesn't spend their last Christmas alone. I definitely know of cases where I believe getting together while using common sense and safety precautions is the right thing to do. Loneliness is rampant in our elderly. 

Thoughts for if you're getting together with family:

1.) If anyone is sick with fever, headache, diarrhea, congestion, etc., ask that they get tested prior to attending even if they're positive that it's just the same old sinus thing they get every year. And, even if negative, they need to stay home. I'd like to think most people would do this, but after being a nurse for a long time, I know better. People don't want to miss Christmas and so ignore/go into denial that they have symptoms long enough to participate in activities. 

2.) If they have mild illness symptoms and they don't want to get tested, ask that they stay home to help reduce risk of spreading COVID to other family members. 

3.) Have family members wash or use hand sanitizer immediately after arriving and have sanitizer readily available in multiple locations to encourage frequent use during your gathering.

4.) Social distance within the house. Have households sit together with distance between family members of other households. 

5.) As disheartening as it is, consider a touchless Christmas. I'm a hugger so this one is especially difficult for me, but if your family is gathering and you must hug grandma, disinfect yourself and mask up prior to doing so to cut down on risk of possibly unknowingly exposing her to something.

6.) If you're not getting together with family members, reach out to them. I recommend anything where they can see your face as the best option, but a call or a text goes a long way to lift someone's day on any day. If due to COVID and health reasons, someone is spending Christmas alone, it can change the entire tone of their day. Aunts, Uncles, grandparents, parents, neighbors...take a few minutes and reach out. Merri talked about Random Acts of Kindness in her post this month. It was a lovely post and I'd like to suggest taking time on Christmas day to reach out to others, to show them you care, as an act of kindness. Not random, but intentional kindness, a showing of love for your fellow mankind. 

These tips are just my thoughts, as a nurse practitioner, on ways to approach your holidays this week and certainly aren't meant to replace what the CDC or your state health department is saying to do. 

Now, back to that upcoming Hallmark Christmas story...it isn't a COVID story (thank goodness as I love losing myself in Hallmark world), but I am working on my next Hallmark Publishing Christmas novel, Wrapped Up in Christmas Hope that will be out Christmas 2021. If you've not read the first two novels, Wrapped Up in Christmas 2019 and Wrapped Up in Christmas Joy 2020, there's lots of Christmas fun, kindness, and feel good moments in them and I hope you'll consider. If you're more into listening to stories, Chirp has a great deal going and both books are on sale for just$3.99 a piece.

I hope you all have a very merry Christmas, that you and yours are blessed with good health and happy memories that you'll look back on and laugh about that crazy year we all wore masks at Christmas and learned to appreciate the simple things such as the ability to shake someone's hand or gather in groups without such extreme measures being needed.

USA Today & Wall Street Journal Bestselling author JANICE LYNN lives in Tennessee with her Prince Charming, their kids who think they're all royalty, her vivid imagination, an adorable Maltese named Halo who's the true princess of the house, and bunches of unnamed dust bunnies that moved in after Janice started her writing career. In addition to writing romance, Janice is a nurse practitioner, a quilter, an exercise queen, a military mama, and an avid supporter of the Quilts of Valor Foundation. Just kidding on the exercise queen. www.janicelynn.com   WRAPPED UP IN CHRISTMAS & Wrapped Up in Christmas Joy is available at AMAZON Barnes & Noble WALMART