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Nobody likes wearing a mask. It’s not fun, it’s an extra thing to remember and for people who wear glasses, there’s the constant battle of the lenses fogging up.

But, it’s still the right thing to do.

We know you’re tired of hearing it, and honestly, we’re tired of writing it. We’ve written it until we could recite most of the sentences below in our sleep, but it doesn’t make it less important.

Over the next few weeks, it’s likely that everyone reading this will celebrate the holidays in one way or another. Some of us will change the way we do the holidays entirely, meaning Zoom calls with family rather than hugging them in person.

Others will still see family, taking on the risk, and hope for the best.

We’ve seen both sides of the argument, and honestly, we don’t think there’s a right answer. You do whatever you think is best for you and your family. We’re not going to be the ones to tell you not to see your loved ones for the holidays.

But we will be honest — a virtual holiday celebration is the absolutely safest way to handle Christmas and New Years.

However, we know many of you will point at the low death percentage and say that you can’t live in fear. (We’d argue back, asking what makes the death rate low — whether it’s when 200,000 people die, a million die or more — but we think it’s a lost cause at this point.)

Here’s our point: We know that most people reading this are probably still going to gather with family this holiday season. Whether that’s on Christmas Day, or a few days ahead or behind the holiday doesn’t really matter. We also know that for the most part people aren’t wearing masks in their homes with family. Some are, but most are not.

However, there are things you can do to stay safe. Sanitize everything before family arrives, and cancel if anyone starts having COVID-19 symptoms. Keep your distance, even when family is in your house. If you have a gathering where a buffet-style meal takes place, don’t have one person grab everyone’s utensils. Let everyone grab their own — or even bring their own — and keep them separated.

And if you go somewhere outside of the house as a family, please by all means wear a mask.

Anything — even small steps — that will mitigate the spread of this virus are worth it and can help keep your family safe.

And if every family takes some steps, then all of us are likely to be healthier.

Because that family member you may have infected will go back to their home, their place of work, their church, their grocery stores and will be around people.

And that’s how the virus spreads, even during the holidays.

A vaccine is on the horizon, and there’s hope for the first time in a while that we’re nearing the end of this pandemic. Let’s help everyone see the light at the end of the tunnel when it gets here.