5 Tips To Navigate Mask Wearing And Social Distancing With Family And Friends This Holiday Season

Holidays are coming, and with that comes planning for the holidays.  We have been dealing with a quarantine for several months now, and that will of course impact how we celebrate the remaining holidays this year. So what do you do for the holidays when your siblings want to get together and they think as long as you all social distance and are outside that’s OK? What if you feel like you shouldn’t get together at all in person, and you’d would prefer to Zoom for the Thanksgiving meal?  We need to come to terms with the fact that this holiday season is probably going to be very different for us than it has ever been before.   Rather than allowing the quarantine, social distancing, and who is wearing masks when to cause stress and strain between family members, I suggest that you give it some foresight. Here are 5 tips on navigating mask wearing and social distancing with family and friends this holiday season:

1.    Talk with your family and friends now. Have conversations now about what your family or friends are comfortable with.  Remember everybody has a differing opinion on this topic, and there’s potentially no right answer. I encourage you to be respectful of each other’s positions (see point #4!) and realize to each their own.  

2.    Be willing to compromise.  If your view on social distancing, wearing masks, and getting together for the holidays differs quite greatly from your family members or your friends, perhaps consider compromising. Have a thoughtful discussion – not an argument -about who is comfortable with what, and have a discussion about possible solutions that everybody feels comfortable with and is satisfied with.  You might need to think out of the box here and consider unconventional : who says a picnic outside in December isn’t possible if everyone bundles up?!

3.    Be flexible.  In the end realize that Diwali, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, etc are just a day on the calendar that we as a society arbitrarily assigned meaning to. What matters more is your relationships with your family and friends, and what you do every other day of the year.  Try to not to put too much emphasis on one holiday or one day of the year.   

4.    Be respectful.  Just as you would respect someone’s religious or political views, even though you might not necessarily agree with them, I feel like social distancing and mask wearing potentially fall in the same category.  We all have different life experiences.  We are all unique individuals with unique stories that cause us to believe, think and behave in a unique way.  And, that extends to views on social distancing and mask wearing.  There are some people that haven’t left their house in months since this started earlier this year, relying on grocery deliveries and using technology to connect with others, and then there are those who are going about their regular pre-COVID lives and only wearing masks when they’re in the grocery store or a shopping center. Let’s not get into who is right and who is wrong, but I encourage us to at least be respectful of each other‘s opinions and perspectives.

5.    Grieve. Grieve the loss of the year you thought you’d have, the holiday you were planning for, the vacation you were hoping for.  Acknowledging disappointment of these losses is important.  

Remember, there is potentially no right answer with this, and even the CDC guidelines are changing day to day anyway. Each region is dealing with different circumstances and infection numbers too.  So, go ahead and make the decision that is best for you with the information that you have at the time, and be willing to be flexible and respectful.  

The mental health therapists at our office offer counseling for a variety of issues including trauma using EMDR, depression, anxiety, grief, and couples counseling. We work with teens, adults, and couples. We also offer online counseling services which can be great for people with busy schedules or for people who live in parts of Pennsylvania with limited counseling options. You can check out our website to see the full list of counseling services that we offer. Or, Request An Appointment here.