Simple Family Traditions
Posted in Your Family on 21. Sep, 2009
Ah, Monday. Although Mondays are usually seen as a bummer, I like to look at them as a clean slate. It’s the beginning of another week, with the promise of new things to come. Mondays can be a day of opportunity, and a fresh start to what could be a fantastic week ahead. Since it’s the start of a new week, I’d like to suggest starting some new family traditions.
We know that kids thrive on routine. Toddlers can insist on the same exact bedtime routine, with the same stuffed animal, and the same bedtime story. Kids enjoy knowing what to expect, because it helps them make sense of this huge world around them. Go a step further than those daily routines, and think about the simple family traditions that can be incorporated into your lives.
I used to think that family traditions usually centered around some big event, like making homemade pies for Thanksgiving or hosting an annual Christmas party with all of your family. Yes, those can be fun family traditions – but don’t overlook things that are easy to do throughout the year. Some of the best family traditions are things that can be done anytime of the year, each week or each month.
For our family, Friday is the day. We start out with Friday Morning Pancakes, and I try to vary it up each week. Blueberry one week, apple-cinnamon the next… you get the picture. It’s a great way to celebrate the end of the week, and it’s a nice change from the breakfast of oatmeal or cereal we have the other six days of the week. My kids love Friday morning pancakes even more when I make them into “funny guys” by using fruit and whipped cream to make some sort of silly face on their pancakes.
My husband also started another simple family tradition that my girls are crazy about. Every Friday evening, as soon as they hear his truck in the driveway, they run to the door. They know that Friday means not only the start of the weekend with their daddy, but they know that he has a “Friday Surprise” for them. Last week he brought home cookies, and the week before that he picked up “Ice Age” popsicles. Whatever the treat happens to be, they know to expect it on Fridays – and yet they still react as if it’s the biggest surprise in the world when they see what he has for them.
What about your family? Do you have any traditions with your kids, like movie nights on Saturdays or going out for pizza Sunday after church? I’d love to hear your ideas!
- Grace
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If we are all home on a Friday evening, we let the kids pick a movie and we all curl up on the couch. We also have the same meal every Sunday after church… mac & cheese and tuna sandwiches, prepared by my wonderful husband. It gives me a break and the kids love the simple meal! In regards to holiday traditions, my husband and I have a good mix of the family traditions we each grew up with as well as ones we have created for our own family. Looking forward to everyone’s comments on this topic.
We do Friday night breakfasts. It’s always a fun time, plus extremely economical. And we seem to like it better than the traditional pizza