The holidays have always been a special time to me, Christmas especially. When we first had children I wondered what kinds of traditions we should create and over the years some have stuck and others, not so much. But the important thing to me is to create memories and traditions that my children will fondly look back upon, some of these were accidental and others were ideas borrowed from friends. Some traditions are older, some newer, but all are a part of the memories I hope my children carry for a lifetime.
Tradition #1- we go to a local tree farm and methodically scour the hundreds of trees for that "perfect" tree. Every year we inevitably say the same thing "this has to be the most perfect tree EVER" and it always is. Some years it rains, some years it snows, and some it is beautiful out. We always make this tradition happen as close to Thanksgiving as possible and we always reminisce about "last year" and how we found the "perfect tree". This year we were in and out of the Christmas tree farm in under 30 minutes, I think we are becoming professionals at this tree hunting thing!
Tradition #2- pajamas. Years ago when I had just 2 children a dear friend of mine at work told me that she always bought her children a new pair of pajamas that she gave them on Christmas Eve so that had new pajamas for Christmas morning. I loved that. Initially when we started that tradition my kids would eagerly get on their new pj's and wear them to the home of their aunt whom we get together with, as the years have gone on they have decided they are too old to do that (mom became sad that they are growing up) but they all still eagerly await the "squishy" package they know will be under the tree on Christmas eve with something new to wear to bed.
Tradition #3- The children each get a new ornament for the tree every year. I remember when I got married and my husband was not a big fan of Christmas. The only thing I had was a borrowed fake tree from a friend and a slew of ornaments that I had collected since I was a child. I made a trip that year to a dollar store and picked up some lights and a few things to decorate the tree with, including a $1 cheap plastic gold star for the top of the tree. Funny what makes a tradition, that star may be the most coveted thing in my house as each year a different child gets to set it atop the tree. A few years back my husband devised a way to tell who put it on the tree last and he wrote initials on the points on the back of the star, that way we write what year each set of initials put up the star so there are no more arguments. Honestly this star is so ugly and even has a chip missing but it will be the one thing I know that the kids would fight for if something happened to my husband and I and our things were divvied up.
Tradition #4- Egg Nog on Christmas eve (not spiked) and it has to be UDF brand Egg Nog. Every year we argue over whether it was the "Holiday Nog" we liked best or the "Egg Nog" and to tell you the truth I still can't remember which it was.
Tradition #5- This one is possibly the newest tradition. Last year a friend shared with me that she makes a small gingerbread house for each of her children and they spend a day decorating, we tried it and each of the children invited a friend, we were hooked (I blogged about it here) we have already scheduled this one for 2015 as it is a definite keeper of a tradition!
Those are just a few of our family's favorite traditions. If you are looking to make traditions and your family is still young let it be fun. It doesn't have to be spending money, in fact that $1 star is the best tradition we have and also the cheapest. So go out and make those memories, if you have a favorite, share it in the comments!
Tradition #1- we go to a local tree farm and methodically scour the hundreds of trees for that "perfect" tree. Every year we inevitably say the same thing "this has to be the most perfect tree EVER" and it always is. Some years it rains, some years it snows, and some it is beautiful out. We always make this tradition happen as close to Thanksgiving as possible and we always reminisce about "last year" and how we found the "perfect tree". This year we were in and out of the Christmas tree farm in under 30 minutes, I think we are becoming professionals at this tree hunting thing!
Tradition #2- pajamas. Years ago when I had just 2 children a dear friend of mine at work told me that she always bought her children a new pair of pajamas that she gave them on Christmas Eve so that had new pajamas for Christmas morning. I loved that. Initially when we started that tradition my kids would eagerly get on their new pj's and wear them to the home of their aunt whom we get together with, as the years have gone on they have decided they are too old to do that (mom became sad that they are growing up) but they all still eagerly await the "squishy" package they know will be under the tree on Christmas eve with something new to wear to bed.
Tradition #3- The children each get a new ornament for the tree every year. I remember when I got married and my husband was not a big fan of Christmas. The only thing I had was a borrowed fake tree from a friend and a slew of ornaments that I had collected since I was a child. I made a trip that year to a dollar store and picked up some lights and a few things to decorate the tree with, including a $1 cheap plastic gold star for the top of the tree. Funny what makes a tradition, that star may be the most coveted thing in my house as each year a different child gets to set it atop the tree. A few years back my husband devised a way to tell who put it on the tree last and he wrote initials on the points on the back of the star, that way we write what year each set of initials put up the star so there are no more arguments. Honestly this star is so ugly and even has a chip missing but it will be the one thing I know that the kids would fight for if something happened to my husband and I and our things were divvied up.
Tradition #4- Egg Nog on Christmas eve (not spiked) and it has to be UDF brand Egg Nog. Every year we argue over whether it was the "Holiday Nog" we liked best or the "Egg Nog" and to tell you the truth I still can't remember which it was.
Tradition #5- This one is possibly the newest tradition. Last year a friend shared with me that she makes a small gingerbread house for each of her children and they spend a day decorating, we tried it and each of the children invited a friend, we were hooked (I blogged about it here) we have already scheduled this one for 2015 as it is a definite keeper of a tradition!
Those are just a few of our family's favorite traditions. If you are looking to make traditions and your family is still young let it be fun. It doesn't have to be spending money, in fact that $1 star is the best tradition we have and also the cheapest. So go out and make those memories, if you have a favorite, share it in the comments!
