34 Ways to Have a Happy Holiday Season at Home

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year again. Or at least, that’s what every magazine, TV show, advertisement and shop window tells us.

But celebrating in December just isn’t the same when you’re sick and mainly stuck at home. In fact, the holiday season can be hard for anyone who’s not able to join in on the fun, who feels lonely or has to deal with dysfunctional relationships during gatherings.

Of course it’s perfectly fine if you want to skip the holidays all together or set firm boundaries. However, if you do love Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year’s Eve and other cultural festivities in your country but your health doesn’t allow you to celebrate how you’d like to, let’s try to find ways you can still have a happy holiday season at home – even if it’s different than what you’d normally do.

The Basic Principles for a Happy Holiday Season with Chronic Illness

When you only have a limited amount of energy, the first thing to do is prioritize. What matters most to you about the holiday season? Which activities, people, foods or rituals bring you the most joy and fulfillment? Setting priorities helps you to say no to invitations that are fun, but less important to you, without feeling too much guilt and disappointment.

Next, make a doable plan. Is there a way you can make your holiday priorities happen, despite your physical limitations, brain fog or sensory overload? Could you ask for help, modify traditions to make them more accessible for you or come up with out-of-the-box solutions? When you’re planning your holiday season, make sure you schedule enough time to rest before, after and perhaps even during events. Also build in buffer time for days when your symptoms flare up and you can’t tick off your to-do list as you’d planned. Starting preparations like shopping for presents and food early also helps you to pace you energy.

Thirdly, manage holiday expectations – of others and yourself. Sadly, you won’t magically feel energetic and pain-free on those special occasions, so communicate your body’s boundaries kindly but clearly to the people you’re celebrating with.

Finally, find healthy ways you can deal with the FOMO you might be feeling this time of year. It’s perfectly natural to feel that pang of disappointment when you know all your friends will be partying on New Year’s Eve and you can’t join them. But perhaps you can sit with those feelings, accept that your current reality sucks, but still try to find some contentment in your own way?

That’s exactly why I’ve compiled a list with ideas to capture the essence of the holiday season in a spoonie-proof way. What you can manage depends on your health and home situation, so not everyone will be able to do every tip on this list. Just use it as inspiration and modify your plans where needed.

And please remember that you simply choose one or more festive activities that are doable for you. Do not feel down because you can’t do it all – even healthy people don’t have the time, money and energy to say yes to every event in December.

Hopefully these 34 ideas below will help you find the wonder in the small pleasures that the holiday season brings, even if you’re sick at home. 

34 Ideas to Have a Happy Holiday Season at Home

The list below contains spoonie-proof ideas how you can celebrate the holidays in December that are most familiar to me (as a Dutch woman), but of course you can apply the same principles to your own cultural traditions or tweak these tips next year for holidays earlier in the season, like Halloween, Thanksgiving or the Festival of Lights (Divali).

Christmas, Hanukkah & Winter Solstice

1. Light an advent candle during dinner each night to count down to Christmas – and to effortlessly make your weekday meal a little more special.

2. Do you enjoy baking and are you able to stand in the kitchen for a while? Then fill your home with seasonal fragrances by making gluten-free gingerbread cookies, a butternut bunt cake, healthy rocky road or any of these healthier holiday treats.

3. Don’t be shy to ask for help to (let a friend) decorate a small Christmas tree or to hang a garland in your bedroom if you’re housebound. These little luxuries can bring you some holiday cheer and brighten up your day. And fairy lights will light up your room and mood for the entire winter!

4. Make a playlist with all the Christmas songs you love. Bonus points for singing or swinging along!

5. Get into the spirit of giving by doing one act of kindness. It doesn’t have to be big, expensive or take up all your precious energy. Call up a friend and really listen, without judgement. Give a compliment and mean it. Donate $1 to a cause close to your heart, hang a string of peanuts in the garden for the birds or send a care package to someone who’s struggling. Generosity is contagious, and spreading kindness is not only positive for others, but for your own health too.

6. Turn a boring day in bed into a pajama party. Put on flannel PJ’s and fluffy socks, make some healthy hot chocolate and retreat to your room with a good book or cheerful movie.

7. Cozy up with a hot and healing drink, like a gingerbread chai, ‘candy cane’ herbal tea (without the sugar!), a spiced mocha, turmeric hot toddy or tart cherry mulled ‘wine’.

8. Stream a ballet performance of The Nut Cracker. The Dutch National Opera and Ballet has a beautiful broadcast of this enchanting fairytale online (if you can access this from your country).

9. Too tired to cook up a feast? Let the oven do most of the work for you with tray bakes in style, like this easy peasy Christmas turkey traybake, pigs in a blanket traybake or this sheet pan Thanksgiving Dinner for two.

10. Light your menorah in the window during Hanukkah.

11. Have a seasonal movie marathon. From classics like It’s a Wonderful Life and films for the whole family like The Grinch or Home Alone to cheesy romcoms and of course Die Hard, there’s a Christmas movie for everyone’s liking. Plus, this time of year also lends itself really well to (re)watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy or all the Harry Potter movies in a row.

12. Gather or buy small seasonal treats to have a happy holiday season at home. Get yourself a fun coffee mug for all those cozy hot drinks, craft supplies to make easy decorations or a stylish notebook for your new year’s resolutions.

13. Bring out your inner kid and decorate a gingerbread house.

14. Read one wintery book or listen to Christmas stories on audio. Dive into the timeless ‘A Christmas Carol‘ by Charles Dickens or get lost into whimsical tales like ‘The Christmas Bookshop’ from Jenny Colgan or ‘One Day in December‘ by Josie Silver. It’s also great fun to read ‘The Christmasaurus’ or the beautifully illustrated ‘Polar Express’ aloud to your children.

15. If you’re able to, drive around your neighborhood at night to watch all the lights and decorated streets.

16. Get crafty and make ornaments for the Christmas tree from salt dough, paper or felt. You could also make a wreath for your front door or anywhere inside where you can easily see it.

17. Swap your usual loungewear for an ugly Christmas sweater to get into the holiday spirit. Putting on a Santa hat or a reindeer headband also works!

18. Who says the holidays has to revolve around having a big dinner together? Celebrate at a time of day when your symptoms are most likely to be manageable. You can have a festive brunch or keep it short but sweet with (literally one) cocktail hour.

19. If you enjoy writing, send out Christmas cards to your closest family and friends. No need for the fancy photoshoots you see on Instagram, it’s the thought that counts.

20. Would you like to attend church over the holiday season but can’t? See if you can find an online or televised service you can watch from the comfort of home.

21. Embrace Hanukkah food hacks so you can still enjoy latkes when you have little energy to cook up a feast.

22. Scents leave a surprisingly big mark in our brains. So evoke happy (childhood) memories by lighting pine-scented candles, diffusing essential oils like frankincense, fir and orange, or simply adding a cinnamon stick to your tea pot.

23. Fancy a more elegant look for the occasion? Wear something comfortable with glitters or sequins on it, paint your nails red or upgrade your outfit with a pre-tied bow tie.

24.  There are many different ways to celebrate the winter solstice around the world, but essentially it revolves around celebrating the return of the light on the shortest day of the year in the Northern hemisphere (December 21st). So turn off your lamps for one evening and light candles, lanterns or the fireplace. If you have an outdoor area, gather around the fire pit or simply look up at the stars.

25. No matter if you celebrate Hanukkah, winter solstice or Christmas, all these holidays focus on connecting with the world around and inside us – with nature, the people in our lives and our inner thoughts and feelings. So put away your screens for one night and do something that’s meaningful to you. Read a religious verse that touches you or create a seasonal altar. Sing Christmas carols or make a giant jigsaw puzzle with your family or housemates, whatever you like.

New Year’s Eve & Day 

26. Make a scrapbook with happy memories of the past year. Even the toughest times have (had) moments you’ll want to cherish, and sometimes looking back can help you notice those lights in the darkness.

27. No matter if you spend all night on the couch or you’re fast asleep by midnight, have a toast on December 31st with a nip of champagne or a festive mocktail.

28. Write a letter about the year gone by to get some closure. If you love self-reflection and planning, you could even do an annual review.

29. Sprinklers make any occasion feel more festive! And at midnight, watch the fireworks from the window or light shows on TV.

30. Good food turns anything into a party, right? So get yourself a selection of tasty bites and finger foods that you can snack on all night long. Check out this holiday antipasto wreath or appetizing New Year’s Eve snack board for inspiration (but only make what you can manage health wise, obviously).

31. On New Year’s Eve, the Dutch television channels traditionally show stand-up comedy shows to jokingly look back on that year. Perhaps it’s a fun idea to end your year with a laugh too? Get inspired by these spoonie-proof ideas to bring back the laughter in your life.

32. If you can make yourself comfortable, camp out in the living room all night for a change. Curl up on the couch with a blanket or drag your pillow and mattress there (or better yet, have a strong family member do that if available). Sometimes shaking things up a bit can really boosts your mood and make a night at home more memorable.

33. Got enough (mental) energy? Have a classic game night. Even if you’re on your own, you could enjoy a solo board game like Exit: The Sacred Temple or the Lord of the Rings – Journeys in Middle Earth. If that’s not really your thing, you could also pass the time with a giant 3D jigsaw puzzle, while playing the best songs of the year in the background.

34. Create a vision board for the new year. Cut out inspiring pictures from magazines of places you’d love to visit and things you want to do, paste photos of loved ones  and words that capture your goals, dreams or theme for the upcoming year.

Hopefully these tips have given you some inspiration to have a happy holiday season at home, despite your illness and physical limitations. But most of all, I hope you create your own meaningful rituals and new traditions. Life is always evolving, and it’s ok if your holiday traditions change when you do.

Wishing you a pleasant December month, whatever and however you’re celebrating! 

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