Passing along Family Traditions

Do you celebrate Christmas each year with a large family get-together on Christmas Eve, host an annual family reunion with a barbeque and baseball game, or take yearly family vacations to new places? Most families have traditions that are unique to them, and experts say this is important as they help us feel connected and teach values. Traditions are rituals that can be big or small but are done with a sense of purpose and an awareness that something special is going on.

While forming the bonds of family togetherness can sometimes be hard to do in today’s busy world, the rewards are great. Family rituals provide a sense of home, security and identity that kids and the older generation need. They shape our holidays and birthday celebrations, bedtime routines, meals and more. As family expert, Meg Cox defines in her newly updated guide, The Book of New Family Traditions; family rituals are “any activity you purposefully repeat together as a family that includes heightened attentiveness and something extra that lifts it above the ordinary ruts.”

If you wish to create new traditions for your family, start by thinking about the things you did that shaped your own childhood or that of your parents, and try to apply it to your own family’s rituals and celebrations. They can be things we do frequently or just at special times; but if they have value, they may still be around for future generations.

The holidays are easy times to create family-oriented traditions and memories. At Christmas, have an annual ornament-making party, bake batches of Christmas cookies, or make and send out Christmas cards. Another idea is to bury a time capsule and have family members write a note and/or put in something that characterizes their interest at the time.

If your family loves playing games, set up a weekly or monthly game night. At the same time, you can make it extra yummy by having everyone make their own sundaes, or cook up a big batch of popcorn or nachos. In the fall, organize a trip to a local orchard to pick apples and then bring them home and have everyone help make pies or sauces. Instead of buying Halloween pumpkins at the supermarket, make a day of it and take the family to a pumpkin patch.

Remember to honor your family’s heritage by including traditional foods in your celebrations. And don’t forget about including religious and cultural traditions that shape our values, our memories and the very people we become.

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Source:

artofmanliness.com/articles/creating-a-positive-family-culture-the-importance-of-establishing-family-traditions/