How to Buy Safe Gifts for Your Loved Ones This Holiday Season?

2020 has been a tough time for all of us. Some of us have lost a loved one; some of us have lost our jobs; some are reeling under depression and anxiety. And here we are now at the end of the year in the holiday season amid the pandemic. And we’ve survived.

While the pandemic might have interrupted the “normal” as we’ve always known it, and, indeed, the holiday season will not be the same thing this year, it cannot dampen the spirit of love, joy, peace, and hope. You can beat ‘pandemic fatigue’ by spending time with your loved ones during these holidays and spreading the cheer through the tradition of gift-giving.

We will discuss the various safe gifting options for your loved ones bound to lift their weary souls and lighten their hearts.

But before that, it’s a salutary reminder to follow CDC’s guidelines for COVID-19 holiday safety and gatherings. I do not recommend travel at all during this time to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The best option is to celebrate the season with the ones you are staying in your home.

Safe holiday gift options during the pandemic

While buying gifts for the holiday season, you will need to consider the presence and virality of the coronavirus. The last thing you want is to infect your loved one. Minimize contact when you give the gifts. Either send it by mail, or leave it at their front door, porch, or in their mailbox.

This is also the time to be mindful of the expenditure. You don’t need to take the pressure of buying gifts when they are other non-financial modes of gift-giving.

Here we discuss some safe, thoughtful, and useful gift options for your loved ones this holiday season.

Think practical

If you are looking to buy gifts, there are lots of factors to take into consideration like the age, mind frame, and situation of the person. If they value practical gifts, then cloth face masks, touchless hand soap dispensers, or any home office essentials would make good gifts. You can add cold-weather essentials such as a jacket, reusable hand and foot warmers, gloves, or a beanie. Since weight gain is a real issue during the pandemic, you can think of gifting options in the likes of pedal cycles, an exercise ball, walking shoes, sports equipment, or an online fitness program subscription.

Indulge in the artistic side

Handmade gifts such as greeting cards, souvenirs, bookmarks, food treats such as cookies make thoughtful gifts and help you get into a positive space. Send handwritten or heartfelt notes to your dear ones. Not everything has to have meaning or be useful. A quirky, amusing, and unexpected gift can be all it takes to lighten someone’s mood.

Make memories

There is no compulsion to buying or making gifts in these challenging times. You can infuse lightness and fun into your holidays by spending time with your loved ones. A little bit of creativity can help whip up some entertaining and memorable activities. Watch movies, sports, listen to songs together, curl under the blanket to read books; even better if they are holiday-themed. Get your children involved in sending greeting cards, be it store-bought or handmade, to family and friends. A holiday greeting video is also a thoughtful and memorable gift. You can even drive your loved ones around town to see the holiday lights.

Since kids are gaining weight and spending more time on their gadgets because of online schooling, you could give the younger family members a telescope, fishing rod, bird feeders, seed kit, age-appropriate books, and board games to boost their physical and mental health. If you’re getting toys and games for children, then stay on top of the Consumer Product Safety Commission announcements around toy safety and toxicity.

Volunteer

With many people losing their jobs in 2020, the practice of gift-giving can add to stress and anxiety. Instead of buying gifts, and adding to financial stress, consider volunteering your time and services. You can volunteer to help people suffering from depression, domestic violence, loneliness, or losing a loved one or job. Volunteer to help people with disabilities, and older adults to deliver essential needs for them during the pandemic. You help donate or raise funds for children from less privileged sections and even offer them virtual tutoring services. You can volunteer to be part of the food drive during times of a global recession.

Instead of the traditional gift-exchanging practice, you can ask your loved ones to donate to a charitable cause. You can also contribute to local animal shelters.

You can donate things you don’t need in your home to charity or buy something that’s needed in your community. You could also involve your family and community in making the holidays special for the homeless, emergency and essential workers.

Be kind to yourself

Don’t forget to be kind to yourself during these holidays. Taking care of yourself is an act of kindness to yourself. So, make self-care a priority. Be it making that dentist or doctor appointment before or after the holidays, exercising, binge-watching, sprucing up your wardrobe and the surroundings with festive cheer.

Self-care is a gift to yourself. Getting the flu shot for the holidays, vowing to eat healthy, catching 7–9 hours of night sleep, staying active are all great gifts for your health.

If you want to destress or help a loved one do so, an annual Netflix subscription, headphones to listen to music, a meditation app, or a good mattress topper can make good gift options.

You can also think of blue light blocking glasses to aid sound sleep, a Kindle device similar to a printed book for leisure, exercise wear for increasing your endorphins, and an online skill-development class to boost learning.

Go Virtual

With Zoom, FaceTime, Skype, Google Duo, and YouTube, you can have a virtual holiday celebration, be it attending online worship service or connecting with loved ones over video calls. Sometimes, the best gift you can do is to see one another online, listen, and talk to each other.

Saying no to gifts

It’s perfectly fine to do away with the practice of giving gifts during the pandemic. It’s okay if you are short on resources or don’t have the mental bandwidth for holiday traditions to say no. It’s also okay to have a price limit on gifts if you want to give, and not overextend yourself financially.

Final Thoughts

Whether it is Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, it’s up to you to decide how you want to partake in the holiday tradition of gift-giving during the pandemic. Hopefully, this article provided you with some traditional and non-traditional gift giving ideas to help you and your loved ones spread cheer in these stressful times. Finally, a word of caution: However you decide to celebrate this holiday in this unusual year, please stay on top of the holiday safety guidelines before planning your celebrations amid the pandemic.

Disclaimer: We routinely draw upon public health resources to inform our write-ups. Information in this article may be drawn up from multiple public health sources, including:

• Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
• Medline Plus
• National Institutes of Health
• American Medical Association
• American Association of Family Physicians
• Mayo Clinic
• Family Doctor