How to Celebrate Your Teen’s Graduation During a Pandemic
This month, millions of high school students graduate, take final assignments, and take exams at the end of the school year. Their long road to graduation is coming to an end, and they probably won’t be able to walk across the stage, shake a bunch of hands, or toss their hats with their classmates. But they still deserve a holiday, and what they can have.
In fact, you – their parents – deserve a celebration too. It is a team effort to spend 13 years in school for a child, beginning with that tearful first day of leaving kindergarten. And even during a pandemic, it is worth attaching great importance to this.
Participate in school holidays
Some schools are postponing their regular graduation ceremonies until the end of the summer in the hopes that this will be possible. The rest go straight to the virtual ceremonies at the end of the school year. Find out what your neighborhood’s plans are, and make sure the whole family dresses and visits as you would normally, even if they just watch the live stream from your living room.
The outfit is the key because it adds formality to the day that makes it more special; if they have a hat and dress, they must wear them.
Take pictures of them wearing a hat and dress.
You may not be able to get all the pictures you usually take when they hug their closest friends, but you should at least get some good portraits of them in a cap and dress. Take them outside for better lighting and background – maybe even drive up to a high school to take pictures of them next to a school sign or in front of a building. Toss as they toss the cap in the air. They are not the same, but these are photographs of this important event that you – and they – will want to receive.
Conduct the roadway exit parade
We suggested this for celebrating a birthday during a pandemic , and we are offering it again here: “Invite” friends and family to get together (separately in their own vehicles) and drive past your house. They can hold balloons in car windows, decorate their cars with ribbons, or simply shout and hum loudly as they drive by.
Encourage them to chat with their friends.
You can host a virtual party with family and friends via Zoom or Google Hangouts, but you should also encourage them to only video chat with their closest friends at some point on release day. The social aspect of celebrating this achievement with your friends is going to be something they really miss, so a few minutes to visually communicate and congratulate each other (or just say, “Damn it, can you believe it’s finally over ??”) is important …
Throw away all decorations
It’s time to color it up so it’s embarrassing. Grab streamers, balloons, and lawn signs – all in school colors – and then decorate your home inside and out.
Decorate their car with graduation signs and window markers for a holiday city ride (just be careful not to obstruct their view). While you are doing this, use the same markers to decorate the front windows of your house. Create a festive backdrop for the graduation so they can sit in front of them during holiday video chats.
Once you think you’ve done enough, go ahead. When it comes to decorating and celebrating, more is more right now.