Family Tradition

As far back as I can remember the holidays stick out in my mind. I can almost smell the roasting turkey and hear the laughter and chatter of friends and family. The Waltons were on every Thanksgiving and Christmas and we would be piled up in our living room watching this. Do you have memories of family traditions from when you were a kid? Maybe yours are different or maybe you didn’t have any but its not too late to make some for your family!

What is a family tradition?

Its easy to think of a family tradition as some huge elaborate affair but it doesn’t have to be! Its really just any meaningful (to you) event that you do year after year. Maybe its putting up a tree on a certain weekend or a certain way. Perhaps its baking cookies and delivering them to family or friends. Or it might even be a special story you read each season as a family. Here’s what we do in ours to make the holidays special…

These are a few of my favorite things:

First off we love the holidays but if I had to pick a favorite, I would vote for Thanksgiving. Why? I think its because of the rich heritage that surrounds it without the burden of presents and commercialisation. So for THANKSGIVING we go ALL out!

In the weeks leading up to it we use our homeschooling time to study about the history behind Thanksgiving. We read books, watch movies and act out plays.

Then the couple days before the big day we start to make our food. Each person gets to pick an item to make and then makes it himself. The kids absolutely love this part!

We have a HUGE Thanksgiving dinner of turkey, chicken and dressing, mashed potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce, rolls, pumpkin pie, ECT…

Check out my Homemade Bread How-To and Recipes!

My husband has also started this family tradition with the older ones that they go on a morning duck hunt the day of THANKSGIVING. Then they come home, we all get dressed up in nice clothes, with colonial style music in the background and before we eat…my husband reads the story of the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving. My kids look so forward to this time of year!

Other family traditions we keep…

Of course, we do celebrate Christmas and I have to be honest, it’s a struggle sometimes to keep it family and faith-focused. So during the month of December, we try to do some special things that seem to mean a lot to the kids.

For one thing, we make cookies and deliver them to neighbors and family. (We don’t get this done EVERY year but we try).

For a special cookie recipe check out my Maple Syrup Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Some years we make a big deal of sending Christmas cards and other years are too busy.

But every year we make a big deal of putting up a Christmas tree and decorating it. It always looks SO pretty when we first do this, but we’ve had toddlers or babies for the last 9 years so I have to admit it ALWAYS gets redecorated😳 Maybe thats a family tradition😂😂

How to start traditions?

It really doesn’t have to be hard or complicated to make family traditions. Just pick a couple of things that mean something to you and begin to implement them. Be patient and realize that things don’t always go as we plan them. That’s ok (I’m telling myself that too). The important thing is that we invest in our families and take the time to step back and focus on the things that REALLY matter! You’ll be glad you did and so will your kids!

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