Being apart doesn’t mean you can’t be together – here’s how to ensure the whole family can join the festivities wherever they are …
From pulling crackers en masse to a frenzy of present opening under the tree, so many Christmas traditions are built on the premise of having everyone under one roof, if only for a few hours. And while the easing of lockdown restrictions over the festive period means it will be possible for households to meet up for a few days in limited numbers, many are still planning for immediate-family-only celebrations. For those, Christmas 2020 is a great opportunity to shake things up and make some genuinely one-off memories by finding new ways to share the day with siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents, wherever they may be.
For a start, make sure the grandparents are primed for an impromptu FaceTime, and that everyone knows how to schedule a Zoom. Hopefully, over the past year, everyone’s got the hang of “gallery view” and learned the importance of the mute button, but you might want to throw in some extra pointers for the grandparents, such as raising the screen to eye level to eradicate those huge nostrils and extra chins. It might also be wise to settle on a video calling app that all generations feel happy with – whether that’s Skype, Houseparty, Google Hangouts or WhatsApp video calls.
