It’s September, we’ve been in the grip of Covid-19 since late February/March, Locked down, holiday free and WAH if we can, or socially distanced in offices and workplaces across the land and always with the hope of a proper Christmas at the end.

In the UK yesterday (9th September) the Rule of Six was introduced. Only six members of two households can meet together inside a private house at a time. As someone with a husband and three children, this gives me a little bit of a problem, since legally I can’t have both my parents round at a time without chucking someone else out of the house. It’s the modern day equivalent of that bit in Pride and Prejudice when Mr Bennett tells Lizzie she has a difficult choice between which of her parents to ever see again. But I digress.

It’s probably a very accurate example of the mission creep of Christmas, or at least the size of Christmas that we’re used to celebrating now, that whether we will be able to have our traditional enormous family Christmases has become the focus of so many newspaper front pages today. Has Christmas this year been called off?

No. Of course not. Christmas doesn’t stop even for a world pandemic. We’ll still be feasting, frolicking and finding out that Uncle Bert is a randy old sod, just in slightly different ways.

I’ve been quiet on the blog for a couple of weeks now, partly because the work at the dayjob is piling up but also because I’m writing a short ebook on how to have a Contagious Christmas: This year, like no other, I think we need to celebrate in a way that protects the vulnerable from the contagious Coronavirus while also spreading hope and joy. You naturally happy, hopeful people… we need you to step up and boost the global mood. Coronavirus can’t last forever, but for as long at it lasts we need to celebrate safely. Here are a few of my initial ideas:

• Start planning now in case we’re in a second wave by December. Look at your usual Christmas and see what can or can’t go ahead, or how you can change it to be safer with social distancing, hygiene stations and different ways of interacting. Forewarned is forearmed.
• Research technological alternatives: instead of a massive family party, could you Zoom or Houseparty together? Do you need to check and make sure that older relatives have access to tech to join in?
• Downscale Christmas this year. It’s likely to be a hard year financially and emotionally for many people. Give yourself permission to turn off the world and use Christmas as a rest period, rather than a mad chase-your-tail party season. (this is my preferred Christmas anyway: tbh virus or no virus, I’ll be celebrating pretty nearly as normal)
• Embrace the issues. Make memories of 2020 special by having the Socially Distanced Christmas of your nightmares. Photograph and video everything, keep a journal and make it a season to remember so that, in happier years that lie ahead, you can look back and laugh at the masks, the video Santa visits and every little accommodation to the outbreak that we have to make. Rather like my Mum, who still tells tales of using silver strips of paper, known as chaff, to decorate the house one year post-war, only to find out it blew every bulb it touched because it was metallic foil designed to confuse radar.
• Keep your hopes high. Outbreaks don’t last forever, and this is only one year of your life. Remind yourself that next year Christmas will be different again, that any changes you make are with good intentions even if they seem hard and that we are better together if we work to support each other.
• Bear in mind that if big parties are banned, families are encouraged to hang out together and we’re spending a lot of time at home, then this might be your most hygge Christmas ever. Keep calm, carry on and keep well.

Finally, most importantly, have the eternal wisdom of Dr Seuss in your heart:

Some articles to get you thinking….

The Daily Express, 10th September 2020

The Huffington Post, 9th September 2020

How to support me…

Ready to start thinking ahead for your hygge Christmas?

I have a couple of Christmas books that you may well find useful if, like me, you’re planning a small, home-focused Christmas this year.

Have Yourself a Happy Hygge Christmas is about ways to celebrate Christmas in the most hyggely way: that’s keeping it very small-group focused and about keeping it simple.It’s available in ebook and paperback form from Amazon.

Enjoying a Self-Care Christmas is about building in pauses into an ordinary Christmas or setting up Christmas to suit yourself and take care of your happiness as well. A lot of the ideas in it are completely useful in a Coronavirus Christmas. It’s only available as an ebook, but that means it’s cheaper. It also has a self-care advent calendar list that is very focused on boosting love and mood over the season.

Truthfully, there’s usually always a chapter on Christmas in all my hygge books: it’s peak hygge season, why would there not be? So, if you’re loaded and like my writing, feel free to support me in every way possible.

You can find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, or find my books at Amazon. Details of all of them are available on the If You’d Like to Support Me page. Apart from that, I have to declare that I bought any books mentioned on this page myself, because if I recommend a book or a buy it’s because I’ve bought it, like it and think you’d like it too. I do make a couple of pence if you click through and buy from the links on my pages, because I am an Amazon Affiliate.