My extended family is small by choice and circumstance. As a result, DH and I don’t have any family traditions. I’d like to change that with my son. What traditions do you recall with fondness, humor, etc.? I welcome any suggestions.

Thanks!
Ann

We have just found that our traditions come out of things we all like to do. Sometimes I don't even know we have a tradition until DS points it out ). For example, whenever we get back from a trip, we always have Kraft Mac and Cheese because I always have it on hand, not because I thought of it as a tradition. It was something I can do while we're unpacking. When DS was about 5, I had a little more time (and food on hand) and so I started to make something else for dinner. He had a fit, because we always have Mac & Cheese when we come home. I realized he was right--we did have a tradition, and apparently one that meant a lot to him!

The big traditions are Saturday morning breakfast (pancakes or waffles) and bedtime stories (which are continuing now even at 12, although the books are hardly kids' books anymore).

Growing up on Sunday mornings, all us kids used to gravitate to my parent's bedroom and snuggle in or pull up some rug with a bit of the Sunday paper or a book, and read for a good while. That's a favorite tradition that I surely miss. As we snuggled and read, I'd hear: "I finished the book.' from various corners of the room as my brothers finished up their books, and my mom would say: "Another Country Hear From."

I guess traditions don't have to make much sense, just be enjoyable. A book I'm reading currently, "The Omnivore's Dilemna" makes a strong case for family traditions around the dinner table.

Thanks,
Grinity

This is a silly one, but we really enjoy it. Every Halloween, we take the kids to a local farm to buy pumpkins. The rule is that each child can only get a pumpkin as big as they can carry from the stand to the car; about 100-150 feet. The kids love to show off how much bigger their pumpkin is each year.

We also love our (usually annual) trips to pick blueberries and apples.

Awww! What a nice thread!

I'll have to think about things we do that I can share. My Internet access is spotty this week, so it may be a while before I can get in here and post. But I love this topic and i had to say so!

Thanks for this, Ann, and thanks for the great stories, friends!

{hugs}

We have to chop down the tree, THE day after Thanksgiving, no exceptions......we haven't broken tradition yet!


Every summer we take the kids to this famous dinky little amusement park my husband used to go to as a child. It's been around since the 30's so it's a little rickety. The first time we drove up I was like: YOU WANT MY BABIES TO GO ON THOSE RIDES!!!!!!!!!!

It's great fun!

Much peace and love,
Neato

Here's one we got from friends of ours who were lapsed Catholics. They wanted to keep the tradition of saying grace but at that point in their lives, prayer didn't seem very authentic (and brought back some bad memories). So every night at dinner, they went around the table and everyone described one thing that made them happy that day. We've been doing this for years and really like it. Sometimes when we are all grumpy and tired, it helps get us back on track.

Since Easter was yesterday, I'll share our egg-cracking tradition. I have a feeling it's Eastern-European in origin but don't know much else about it, other than the fact that it's been happening in my family for eons.

Before dyeing them, we use a crayon to write each person's name on a hard-boiled egg. After grace but before dinner, we each put a dollar in the middle of the table (parents ante up for their kids, including babies!). Then we hit our egg against someone else's egg and try to crack the other person's egg. Everyone has a different technique for this. The person with the last egg standing (uncracked) gets all the money.

Yes, I realize that it's a little odd to gamble on Easter. We're generally not a gambling family, and I grew up attending Mass at least 3 times a week. But the egg cracking is so fun and everyone (especially the kids) really look forward to it, and try to predict who will win, what strategies will be used, etc. Our son was so excited to be the winner yesterday! (Sometimes we try to throw it so that a child wins, but it's not always possible.)

Also on Easter, we break unleavened bread and make wishes for other people for the coming year. I'm not sure about the origins for this tradition, either. But it's a nice one, too, and plays on the "new beginning" aspect of the holiday.

Tara

I promise to write more soon. I wanted to pop in real quick to say that I LOVE each of your messages. What a special group this is.

Warm thoughts - Ann

Our family has various traditions, some silly and some more sentimental. When we have a special occasion in the family such as child's achievement in school of after school activities, we make our special candy pancakes for breakfast. It's basically pancakes with chocolate chips, toffee bits etc. added to it.

We also have a family game night about once a month. We have tons of board games and different family member chooses games each time. Last time DD chose Clue and Monopoly.

For Easter, we have a "tacky" tradition. We have an inflatable bunny and we take a picture with the bunny to see how our kids have grown. This bunny is huge and takes forever to fill up. But it's fun to see how much taller our kids are and when they get bigger than the bunny.

Jen