We may not have been around to experience the first influenza pandemic in March 1918 that killed 550,000 Americans and 50 million others worldwide before it finally subsided. However, 2021 was the year of the covid-19 virus and our first taste of living life through a pandemic. We also had to learn to adapt life during the lockdown to stay safe and avoid spreading the virus. As a result of this period of home confinement, many of us have adopted a few new family rituals that may have started accidentally or out of necessity that just may be worth keeping. If you’re curious, let me share some of these family rituals that we found helpful and worthy to continue into the future.
Something that I never would have tried before this pandemic is shopping and using curbside pickup. I prefer going into the stores and inspecting the quality of food or merchandise before adding it to my cart. However, I tried this service for groceries. Not only did it save me from entering the store, but also some money from buying other items left off of my list. I don’t know about you, but I shop with a list but sometimes temptation does get the best of me. The food that I unpacked also was done with more care than I thought, which has me believe this service may be worth keeping for the future.
Another of these time saving family rituals we went with is ordering more online, especially for staples like drugstore items such as soaps, shampoos to food staples. The only thing that I hate about ordering online is that the delivery people always seem to place the box in front of your door where you have a hard time to even open it.
Though you can buy or rent movies and pay for select channels, we usually borrowed the latest movies from our library system. However, the lockdown changed all that and even when restrictions were lifted, we still wanted to avoid any possible risk until this pandemic and all its variants finally are behind us. Consequently, my family has developed a greater love of reading among family rituals I hope they continue.
Since my family is big fans of Perry Mason courtroom dramas, we regularly taped old broadcasts for viewing later together. Watching these reruns and seeing the 1950s and 1960s cars, clothing, hairstyles, etc. was just as interesting as the program.
During this pandemic, many worked from home instead of commuting to the office while the children were home schooled. This was the year that many of us developed even closer family bonds from all that time together for talking more and gaining better communication skills, which is another of these family rituals worth keeping around. Families only get stronger when they have time for each other.
Getting the whole family taking walks together in the evening was something we also started this year that became one of our new family rituals. It provided the exercise we needed and gave us an excuse to take in all the beauty of nature that we are often too preoccupied to see.
These are just a few family rituals that we began during the pandemic that benefitted our family and intend to keep around.
Did you start any new family rituals that you also intend to keep active? Let me know.
I agree with you. There are several things we will continue to do.
These are terrific family rituals to keep following. I did shop on line often and I still do. My brother and sisters made sure to text each other often to see how everyone was doing.