Family Traditions
From the time that I was a child, I always wanted to form my own family traditions that I could pass on to my children. My parents created several traditions in our family during my childhood. Going up to the lake for a week in the summer – and my mom would make the best banana bars. Sandwich, hot dog, and cottage cheese, my favorite meal when I was little. Opening Christmas presents after church on Christmas Day – oh how hard it was to wait! When I was older, my mom created Easter baskets for each of us kids. Every so often after church on Sunday night we would play games together as a family. Those traditions created special memories for me, and I want to do the same thing for my children.
I wanted to be very intentional in my tradition planning, so we chose some traditions that would be easy for us to keep up with. Now, especially this year, I am so glad that we have our traditions in place.
First tradition:
Pizza and movie night
We have kept this tradition since our kids were just small ones. We enjoy a pizza and pop night on Saturday. Sometimes we watch movies. For a long time we watched the show Wipeout until they took it off the air. For a while I decided that I would make homemade pizza, but the treat of ordering a pizza out is hard to beat. Bear Bear and Super Stuffy don’t like to miss a week of pizza and pop. I hope that this will create a wonderful memory for them.
Second tradition:
Friday night campout
Even though I tried to be intentional in planning our traditions, I did not start this tradition on purpose. It began as a reward for my children getting their chores done. It started out by us just putting out a blanket on the floor. I would wait until they fell asleep and then bring them upstairs to bed. Over the years it has morphed to be a complete campout. We started with air mattresses on the floor and then graduated to a single mattress and a fold out couch. But each Friday, the kids enjoy a Kraft mac and cheese supper with a Little Debbie treat for dessert. We watch several movies, and the kids can stay up as late as they want to. This particular tradition is becoming rather hard for my aging bones, but I want to continue this because I know that my time to spend with my kids is becoming very short. This tradition is one that I know that my kids will remember for their entire lives.
Third tradition:
Cuddling with mom and dad on Saturday and Sunday night.
On Saturday night, the kids go upstairs with their dad to watch TV together and cuddle. It’s a time that the kids and their dad love. It also gives each one of us as their parents a couple of quiet hours just to do the things that we want to do. I look forward to that quiet time. I also look forward to cuddling with the kids on Sunday night. We have spent time laughing at funny videos, tickling and cuddling, and playing hide and seek under the covers.
Our kids love their traditions, and they fight hard to preserve them. Even though sometimes I would just like to sleep in my own bed, or have some quiet time by myself, I cherish these times with my children. They love these times, and I know that my time to spend exclusively with my children is limited.
What traditions have you created with your family? Are you looking to create some traditions? Maybe one of these three might spark some ideas for your own traditions.
