Traditions: How to Create Your Own. Traditions make a house a home and a group of people a family.
They distinguish your home from the one next door.
You create traditions every day - they're anything you do regularly together. Having dinner together is a tradition. Your places at the table are a tradition.
So are big Sunday morning breakfasts; inside jokes; how you spend vacations; favorite dishes; songs you sing in the car; how you celebrate birthdays; rainy day camps in the living room.
Even bedtime routines are traditions.
These daily, weekly, seasonal or annual rituals make children feel secure. And when the child reaches adolescence, traditions give here something to sneer at and rebel against. Just like we did. And that's OK, too.
These rituals also provide a way to keep moving forward. When my dad died on Thanksgiving a few years ago, our Thanksgiving traditions helped us get through that difficult month and season.
And since that year, we always light a candle on Thanksgiving to remember him. He has become part of our holiday tradition.
To create your own unique traditions, consider what things everyone especially enjoys doing together. Then assign a specific time or day for each. The anticipation is part of the fun.
We used to have Friday Game Night, and every Friday, we would order pizza and then play games together until bedtime. It was simple, but the kids and I looked forward to it all week.
Expect traditions to evolve. Those suitable for young kids are often too hokey for teens. Some you may want to adapt to your children's ages.
Others you may drop altogether.
But don't be surprised if they are reincarnated later when your children reach adulthood.
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