My friend BJ gave a wonderful talk in our ward the week before Easter. It was about family untiy. In her talk she talked about family traditions. I started to think about the traditions Clif and I have in our family and I couldn't really think of any. I too, think traditions are a great way to have untiy in the family. It also got me to thinking that it doesn't need to be a big tradition, it can be something small and every day that brings your family close together. I really want to be a good mother, I want to be an example to my kids, and I want our family to be close and want to spend time together as a family. However, I am in need of ideas. Please share your fmaily traditions with me, big and small. I also want to hear about how family home evening lessons, sunday activties, and anything memorable that you were taught that sticks out in your mind. I would really appreicate your input!
Thanks!
8 comments:
I know growing up we always had a big family Sunday dinner, we ate together mostly every day of the week but on Sunday it was a roast or a turkey and mashed potatos, think a smaller Thanksgiving. That's something I miss since we don't do it with our own family but I loved that growing up.
Now, some that we do :) I can't think of anything in particular that we do routinely but some holiday type ones are that we put the tree up for FHE the Monday after Thanksgiving, We just started a special Easter tradition where it's a week long of Easter stuff and one of the nights is a meal that would have been eaten during Jesus' time (that was fun!), We always have a "candy cane" candy in our stockings, I can't think of anything else but I'm sure there are more.
as far as every day ones:
i try to sing the girls to nap and to sleep.
every night i go in and tell blaine that i love her and am so proud of the big, nice, wonderful girl/sister she is becoming.
reading books together or watching a show together.
we turn on the radio and have "dance parties".
trevor likes to make hot breakfasts on the weekends... something i never do during the week so it is special when he does.
going to parades and anything that is free and in the community.
playing outside.
making messes and being fun. trying to not stress about those little things.
i don't know if these are "traditions" in the traditional sense of the word, but they are things that i remember doing as a kid and that mean the most to me! if you want more i will try to think of more!
Thanks for your comment Camey! You are so very sweet. Even though I don't have children yet, I know how you feel. I often think about how much I want my children to be close to each other and to their parents. One tradition that made my family incredibly close was playing games. Every Sunday around 4:00 we would pick out board games and cards and play for about 4 hours (we still do this and it's a blast). This is a tradition I want to make sure and uphold in my future family. It's a way to ensure that everybody has fun together.
-Scripture study every night at the same time
-Basketball and horse tournaments
-Going to the movies (usually every other week)
-Something that we didn't do much, but that I want to do with my own children is gather together for dinner several times a week (no t.v/ just talking about our day)
***I like the idea of this post! I think I'll post the same thing when I have kids!
a small tradition that we are starting up is at dinner time, while we sit at the table, we will each share the best thing about our day and the worst thing. I think it will really open up dialogue, and when our kids get older, they will be used to talking to us about their lives, whether it's good or bad!
Evan and I have thought about this a lot over this past year...one way you can make a tradition is on holidays have a certain meal that is special and only eaten on that day...for example Christmas we make Crepes in the morning with fruit, Easter we started making German Pancakes with buttermilk syrup. and the 4th of july we will make a quiche.
Going camping and fourwheeling every year can be a tradition too.
and you are already really good at reading to your kids...maybe you have a special book you read to them once a week.
I still want to see some easter pictures so when you have the energy post some!
A lot of our traditions just kind of developed as time went on. As the children grew older and said lets do this again, we did. That way you know what they like. They started pretty young (grade school) telling us what they wanted to do again.
I think little things like reading together are traditions. Tom and Gavin go on a (at least) monthly breakfast date. On a school day they leave early and go to McDonalds. Then Tom takes him to school. It's simple and doesn't cost much, but Gavin LOVES it. He loves having the one on one time. I bet he'd tell you it's one of his favorite traditions.
When we were kids we had a stay up late night. All the other kids went to bed on time and just the one kid got to spend time with mom and dad. I think it was only 1/2 hour and it probably was only once a month or so. I don't remember those details, but it was fun. I bet Spencer and Addy will be getting old enough to do that soon.
I'll let you know if I think of any more.
I agree with Shian about the special night with Mom and Dad when the other kids had to go to sleep and we got to stay up "late". I also loved going camping around Easter.
For a good long while we would always make cookies on Sunday and watch the "Sunday Night Movie" which was usually a disney or Anne of Green Gables type family film.
A wierd one that we did was Dad would have this long plastic tubing that we would wind around the house and then run colored water through and follow it as it went. I know it isn't making much sense as I write it but if you ask Clif he can explain it better.
When we lived in Vegas Dad would take us on individual date days. I went out to the desert and we rode around on the 4-wheeler. It was a blast.
At Christmas all of us kids would sleep in one bedroom and then in the morning we would jump off the top bunk in order to wake up Mom and Dad to go open presents. (There are a bunch of Christmas ones that I bet you're starting to learn. Ü)
On a slightly different note, I also remember that about once a year Mom would make us take down the blinds in the house and wash them, wash out the garbage cans and do other types of cleaning. I guess you could call it a tradition because we did it every year. While I didn't enjoy it at the time I look back now with profound appreciation because it has made me a "clean" person in my grown-up years. I haven't as yet washed my blinds (they are in desparate need...) but I do routinely wash out my garbage cans. Ü
Holy cow I've written a lot. Ü Love you. Thanks for the walk down memory lane.
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