The family traditions I remember from my childhood are some of the most vivid memories I have. Both my husband and I are excited to be able to continue some from our childhood and start new ones.
I would love to hear from some of you moms out there. What family traditions do you have with your children?
The ones we remember and want to continue are:
1. Walking around town going Trick-or-Treating. I know a lot of people have become apposed to Halloween these days, but not us. We both remember dressing up and having to wear our parkas over out costumes because in both NH and IL it's already cold by the end of October. One time my brother put on some old clothes, strategically placed hay coming out of his boots and gloves, carved a pumpkin to put over his head and then slumped by the front door to scare kids as they came by.
2. Soda and popcorn for Sunday nights watching Walt Disney World...I guess we'll have to pick a new show, but the idea is the same.
3. Birthday dinners where you get to order anything you like.
4. Parade watching for the 4th of July and standing as the flag passes.
5. Clothes shopping for school...I think I have fonder memories of this then my hubby does.
6. My husband was raised Jewish, but I certainly remember leaving milk and cookies for Santa
7. My nieces get a letter from Santa every year too.
8. With computers you can now track where Santa is with NORAD
9. We will also decorate the xmas tree and take a car ride to see how others decorated their houses.
10. I am the last of eight children so the Easter Bunny didn't hide eggs at my house, he hid jelly beans. Those suckers are hard to find. Months later we would still come across one or two.
11. Big family get-togethers for Thanksgiving and Christmas
12. Driving to the mountains to look at the changing color of leaves in the fall.
The ones we want to start are:
1. Family game night
2. Balloon Fiesta
3. Reading stories before bed
4. Helping a the church pumpkin patch.
5. Taking nightly walks
6. Saying, "I love you," before bed.
8 comments:
We share many of the same family traditions. I have so many great memories from my childhood and I want my kids to have the same wonderful feeling when they think of those traditions.
Unfortunately, some of those traditions are starting to fade....like nightly bedtime reading. My boys are older and so they read in their room before bed. I miss that time with them.
My daughter still gets the nightly storybook time but I think the day is quickly approaching that she'll be reading her own books....
*sigh*
To me, reading is one of the very best things you can do for your kids...and not just at bedtime! My mom was an English teacher, so she read to us a lot. Some of my fondest memories are of those times we shared, sitting on the couch, the front porch, or wherever. I like your list...your traditions sound wonderful!
Melba
I love reading to my kids! We started when they were only 5 months old, with board books, and when they were 4 they could listen to Ramona or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Now they both read novels on their own, but we still read out loud. We're doing Austen's Sense and Sensibility with my 10-year-old currently. It's a lovely book, and she understands it better hearing it!
Books have always been a big part of our family.
And the baby Jesus birthday cake at Christmas. Chocolate, of course.
Visit To Love, Honor and Vacuum today!
I LOVE the whole idea of family traditions. There are many I remember from my childhood, and it makes me nostalgic thinking about them. Savannah is still pretty little, but we read Bible stories and pray before bed...we can't skip it even if we wanted to, because she won't let us! We do the pumpkin patch every year and drive around looking at Christmas lights, too...once of my fave things. I can't wait until she's old enough to bake Christmas cookies with me. I also want to get one of those special celebratory plates to use for birthdays and special occasions.
Great list, Tracey! I might have to steal this sometime and do a post, too, because I love talking about traditions so much. :)
One of the things that we have started (and I wish it had been sooner) is at Sunday night dinner. After the prayer and we all have started to eat we go around the table and share what we are praying for that week and give praises for answer to prayer. We usually are alone (just the 5 of us) so we can really reveal to each other what is in our hearts. The littler ones usually pray for toys, and other child-like things but I know that they are learning. It also helps me to trust my family with the things that I'm praying for. We also use that time to pray for issues/sicknesses that we know of in our church, community, and (now, for me,) the internet.
Great topic!
Those sound like similar memories my husband and I have of our childhoods - and hope to pass on to our children. One we hope to start is to go Christmas light looking after the Christmas Eve service at church. Then come home and watch a Christmas movie. Someone mentioned a birthday cake for baby Jesus - I like that! That is one I am going to remember!
Glad to hear you had a great trip back home!!
I have many of the same traditional memories that you do.
Our favorites here are:
reading at bedtime, dinner together, movie and picnic night(we have dinner on a picnic blanket in the living room watching a movie together), 3 gifts at Christmas to represent the 3 gifts the wise men brought Jesus, church activities together
Oh we have so many family traditions and many of those you listed we do!
Some we do are cookie baking together. Filling shoeboxes for Samaratin's purse, going to all the county fairs each year, blueberry and apple picking, hayrides out to the pumpking patch to pick our pumpkins.
So many. Some new ones this past year were to celebrate St. Nicholas Day, make a gingerbread house together. Two of the boys favorites this past year were to make a Jesse Tree and do a nightly devotional during each day of advent. We read the book Jotham's Journey and Justin still talks about the characters in the story. I could go on and on. I feel family traditions are so important and the memories you make are priceless!
Michele
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