Parenting
Saturday, July 4, 2009
What family traditions have you created for your kids?
editor
I'm a big fan of family traditions. I especially enjoy ones that my kids helped create.
Amy I. posted last week about
her Mother's/Father's Day tradition. She and her husband give each other
illustrated children's books about moms and dads. I love this idea because it has a personal touch, it's easy to implement and most importantly, the kids can get involved.
As I was catching up on Gretchen Rubin's blog, The Happiness Project, I saw that she had created a new family tradition -- Restaurant Night -- inspired by her oldest daughter. Ever Saturday night, the family decides on a food theme (Italian, Mexican, etc.) and creates a restaurant in their home. They decide on a menu, decorate their dining area (complete with menus, candles, a "sign" with their establishment's name) and cook the meal together. For Italian night, Gretchen and her youngest daughter were the customers while her husband and oldest daughter played chef and waitress.
Here's what Gretchen likes about this particular tradition: it helps facilitate the teaching and practicing of good table manners; it sets the one for the day with everyone eager for the dinner festivities; and it's really easy to implement.
Such a great idea. I may have to adopt it.
What family traditions have you created with and for your kids? Tell us about it and maybe we're feature them in future posts on Shine parenting.
Related: table manners, parenting, meal time, family traditions, family time
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Posted by Susan Fri Jun 20, 2008 11:19am PDT
My son participates in the family dinner by setting the table, complete with homemade place cards, and deciding who will be the "messy" one of the night by leaving that person an extra napkin. It is simple way to get him involved in the family dinner. He is 5.
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Posted by Purple Sun Jun 22, 2008 6:08am PDT
we have a traditon at Chrirstam time every year me and the kids or now grandkids go and pick out and cut a tree at a tree farm, drink cider and eat cookies. then we go home and have dinner and decorate the tree as a family Ido the lights and the kids do the decorations , my kids are all over 25 and the grandkids are all under 6.
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Posted by candy Sun Jun 22, 2008 1:19pm PDT
Playing santa is great..
the night before, Christmas Eve, late when they are asleep, make fake
reindeer prints in sand, (Florida), form chocolate covered dough for reindeer poop, and yell "Ho HO HO"..gets em every time...they rush out to see what santa has left them..cookies and milk are gone..etc
Love it..soon, though they will discover who the real Santa Is!!
But hope the magic remains within their hearts.
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Posted by Cursed Romantic Tue Jun 24, 2008 9:12pm PDT
When I was a kid we would generally pull names and buy Christmas gifts for each other and my cousins and aunts and stuff. Buy them and wrapt them ourselves and take them to cleveland where my cousins and aunt and uncle were and put them under the tree for Christmas. We always had the tradition of opening one present on Christmas eve.
There was also the tradition of making easter baskets and dying eggs. And even buying chocolate bunnies and jelly beans for each other and stuff.
I'm not sure of what traditions I would create with my kids but I would love to share with them the ones my family has created. I just feel sad though when I hear some parents they will never tell their kids of santa or the tooth fairy or any of that. Its kind of sad when people think its so much better to be so blunt with their kids at the expense of giving kids some kind of magic in their lives. I say more power to kids that have parents that still believe the idea of Santa and stuff is well worth it, over being brutally honest.
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Posted by HotCrossBuns Fri Jun 27, 2008 7:12am PDT
For both Mother's Day and Father's Day, the parent of honor gets breakfast and presents in bed. For some mysterious reason Dad gets a backscratch thrown in....not sure what a Mama has to do to qualify for that one, too. teehehee
We also have an Easter tradition of finding Easter eggs that the EB left hiding around the house. For Christmas, we always do the tree choosing, decorating and lighting as a weekend event, too.
For Kids Birthdays, because we have no family who lives close by to celebrate parties with us, I always decorate the Breakfast table the night before their Birthdays. In the morning they enter the kitchen to a festive table with balloons, streamers, confetti, fun plates and napkins, and a pile-o'-gifts...They can open ONE in the morning, and then we stretch the suspense of the rest throughout the day until Daddy gets home from work. Then we have cake and ice cream as a family and open the rest of the gifts.
I think this one is the kids' favorite tradition yet. (My kids are 9,7 and 6)
ACtually, I take that back. For 4th of July we have our own fireworks out in our own backyard. (they're legal here and we live in farm-country!) We do burgers and dogs on the grill and I make a US Flag cake with strawberries and blueberries and home-made whipped cream frosting. And my kids sing the National Anthem (or a version closely resembling it) at one point during the festivities.
Good times!!!
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