Traditioooooon, TRADITION!

March 01, 2022 Post a Comment

This phrase is the only affair I call back from watching our high school's production ofFiddler on the Roof x years ago (and the fact that the male lead was my all-time friend's boyfriend, but that'south not really relevant). Anytime I recall about the give-and-take "tradition", I always want to break out in song. Which, based on my last post, I'grand sure you lot would beg me not to. :)

Anyway, equally the holidays are budgeted I've been thinking a lot about traditions. Nosotros're attending a parenting class for Sunday School and ane thing that our instructor said was that holidays and family vacations are kind of similar the cornerstone of the memories our children will accept of their childhood. I recollect this is very truthful as I recall the memories from my own babyhood. Most of my memories revolve around a holiday, birthday or a family unit vacation.

Since both boys are at the ages now when they actually relish festivities and such, I think now is a corking time to begin instilling traditions into our holidays. Here are just a few traditions my family did equally a kid that I would like to practice with our piffling family now:

Santa Visit on Christmas Eve. Every Christmas Eve, we would head upstairs and everyone would sit down on the flooring, overlooking the balcony at my parent'south firm. We would read The Polar Express and at some time during that book, Santa would walk through our front door and evangelize some of our presents (the rest would come up subsequently we were asleep, we were told). Even after I "knew", I still couldn't effigy out who was in the accommodate since all of our family unit was present. It turns out that it was a dear friend of the family unit who goes to our church (who besides did it for his own grandchildren). This is 1 of the single greatest memories I take from my childhood! I'yard on the chase for a Santa arrange, and so tell me if yous know of any good deals!
The Twelve Days of Christmas. For the 12 days prior to December 25, my mom would identify a small souvenir in our stockings each day. It wasn't every anything big (unremarkably candy, gum, lip gloss, etc), but information technology was something nosotros always looked forward to. With 5 children, I know this was a lot of work for her, just a retentivity I treasure. I would like to do this with my boys this year, just add together a giving element also. Mayhap we could incorporate twelve days of serving prior to Christmas as well by delivering a meal to our elderly grandparents, volunteering to ring the bell for the Salvation army, etc. I want to brand sure that our children sympathise and capeesh the concept of giving when in that location is a tendency for children in our civilisation to only want to "get".

And this idea is from Prince Mannerly'southward babyhood:

Live Christmas Copse (that tin be planted after). For a couple years in Prince Charming'southward "growing up years" his family unit bought real Christmas copse to constitute after. Each year a different child got their very own tree. Then, they could look outside in the yard and see "hey, that's my Christmas tree from when I was __." For Large Brother's Showtime Christmas, we bought a very large, alive Christmas tree that would be planted in the yard right after Christmas. Nosotros had the intention of doing this for every child's "Commencement Christmas" simply neglected to do so for Little Brother in the craziness of just having a babe terminal year (plus we were pretty certain we would be moving presently). Now that we're settled in our new house, we thought it would be a peachy fourth dimension to reinstate this tradition!