Family Traditions

[Phteven]

This is inspired by another thread that reminded me of one of our family traditions - the Sunday roast. It's not just my immediate family that likes a Sunday roast but also my extended family. Any time I visit one of my family and they serve me a roast on Sunday it makes me feel like things are right with the world (corny but true).
I think that family traditions are great. They add routine and stability to the week and increase your sense of belonging.
So, what are you family traditions? Are you starting any for your family?

[Salsa]

Might start the roast thing

[briggsy's girl]

dinner with my bro once a week.

usually it's at their place, but sometimes here if the kids aren't at school next day. usually roast. we supply the meat, they cook and supply the veg (vice verse if it's here) bro cooks the meat, sil cooks the veg, dh carves, and i make the gravy. we have dinner together, kids off to bed, and then we play board games together.

[Nelle]

I'd like to establish Sunday lunch as a family (guests allowed :P), Easter Egg hunts, Prayers before bed...perhaps a yearly holiday to the same spot, some sort of Christmas tradition...

Looking forward to reading about other people's traditions, to get some ideas...

[Mum0809]

I'd like to start some family traditions. Sunday roast sounds great. I'm looking forward to reading about other people's traditions too.

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

Sunday Roasts.

I'm aiming to start dinner conversations about a Bible reading once a week, but will wait a bit for that one. And do it on a week night, the same night every week, so if DS is uncomfortable with his friends joining in they won't come round that night. (Or if DH is uncomfortable too.)

"Family Night" one night a week. DH and I had "no-TV" nights and played board games etc, I'd love to do this with DS as he grows up. Right now every night is family night but I do know we'll need to keep it special as he grows up.

"Movie Night" too - we all watch a family film together. Anything we want, so long as it's suitable and not been seen on movie night for two years (to prevent endless Jungle Book as that's DS's favourite). We will all take turns to pick, starting with DH, then me, then DS, then any other siblings. If you invite a guest then you can forego your next pick and let the guest pick that night (who doesn't have to abide by the 2-year restriction).

Dinner-table talks. Just a half-hour where we all talk about our days, what we've learnt, what we're doing, what we are aiming for... ALL ideas and thoughts are allowed, no-one is to be criticised or told they are "boring" because they think science is more exciting than the opposite gender. In fact, if I had a child like my sister she would be told off for EVER telling a sibling to shut up, something that is exciting someone else is "boring" and "no-one wants to hear about that" after that child has bored everyone senseless with "S said this and L said this and then he did..." like anyone cares about that! But yeah, where we can maybe discuss a philosophical ideal, a poem, a friendship, a rivalry, a bad day at work - or a good one. Every night. Everyone welcome. That's really important to me.

Christmas traditions - the tree goes up the first Sunday in Advent, or the weekend just before December. Whichever is sooner. Then every day in December we have a Bible reading and the person saying the prayer just before the discussion hangs a star on the tree, a big star for each Advent Sunday. So we can see the stars appear to count up to Christmas and it reminds us every time we see those stars about Jesus. OK, so He wasn't born at Christmas and it used to be a pagan ritual, but we're celebrating Jesus not anything else. We have Christmas Day with DH's family and then as DS sleeps we drive to my parents' place and do Christmas all over again on Boxing day. Well, the presents that is. None of our parents are that into bringing religion into Christmas proceedings, something I plan on changing a LOT.

[Laranna]

Sunday Roast lunches...mum and dad have been doing them for as long as I can remember. They are the best!

Also, when we were kids mum and dad used to buy chips, lollies and soft drink on a Saturday and we would sit down after dinner and watch a movie or play board games.

A tradition that I will start with my family when DS is older, is quite a simple one, and that is to just have a sit down dinner at the table every night. No TV, phone, radio, etc just us talking about our day and plans for the next, life in general, etc.

[alioops]

We have lunch with the I/Ls and dinner with my parents every sunday doesn't matter who's house though.

My family does a HUGE christmas thing and we go to my family every second year and DH's the other year. I guess we will have more traditions as the girls grow up but for now that's it.

[Phteven]

Also, when we were kids mum and dad used to buy chips, lollies and soft drink on a Saturday and we would sit down after dinner and watch a movie or play board games.
.

hehe that sounds similar to us. We get take-away or go out for dinner on Saturday night so I get a night off cooking and afterwards the boys can have ice-cream and watch a movie.

We go on holidays to the beach with my sister (and brothers if they can make it) at least once a year. We hire holiday apartments next door to each other for a week and spend a week swimming and fishing and relaxing. This year my Dad will be there too
Even though I don't celebrate Christmas I usually try to join my family because they do and DH is always busy and boring over Christmas.

[rufalina]

Our family always did Sunday roast too, and Grandma used to rotate desserts so we each got our favorite every few weeks... and I try to do it or my DH and I.

And Saturday nights was "sausages and chips with no rabbit food!" and I know mum still does it for my father, and he get very upset if he doesn't get his Saturday night treat.

I like the idea of board games nights. Might try to implement that one into my family too.

[Netix]

We dont have any family traditions , but I am trying to make some.

I have managed to get our family eating at the table rather than off laps on the couch in front of the telly, which we did every night and pi**ed me off no end. The telly is on more often than not, but at least we are now at the table. Its a start.

I would love to start Sunday roasts. Maybe in the recipes section we could start a thread on how we do our favourite roast. I think the main reason I don't do roasts, is I've never actually cooked one.

The Man went away last weekend to a friend's caravan up near Eildon, and there is one there for sale soon, which I think I would like (but, I haven't seen it!), as that is another tradition I would like to start, as Nelle said too. Regular holidays, or long weekends away the kids can look forward to throughout the year.

That's about it for me. Something at Christmas time would be nice, but its a bit hard to get a tradition going when you have a child from another relationship involved, so its meant to be one year here, one there. Or whatever they decide is convenient for them at the time.... (if you read between the lines, yes, there is an angry little vent in there ). The same thing stands for New Years Eve (vent included), although we have found a fantastic place to watch the fireworks, and also Easter (yep, vent in that one too).

[foreva*your*mummy]

Mine is not really a family tradition more it was like a friends tradition. we dont do it now cause 2 of us moved to oz from NZ BUT we used to have home made pizza night on thursday nighs every week ( we all where neighbours and live inthe country). so all made from scratch every week we would supply something different for the pizza and it was fantastic. I was a awsome way to catch up on everyones week.

[Aimz]

Since my brother moved away to Melbourne we have a "new age" tradition lol

Mum, Dad, DH and I sit at the dining table and eat dinner at 7pm every Sunday (rotating between their house and ours). We have the laptop set up on the end of the dining table and we call my brother on Skype. He has his dinner ready at the same time and we can all see each other, chat and eat dinner together. Quirky, but that's us

[AnyDream]

We have Friday Night Family Night. Usually it involves takeaway or a quick reheat dinner so no one's stuck doing dishes, then afterwards we play games or watch a movie together. When DH is away (seems like all the time these days) we go out and have (usually) Chinese soup for dinner on Fri nights instead.

[Nelle]

Ohhh yeah, growing up we used to have Friday night Fish & Chips - that's a DEFINITE keeper for me. :P

[Devon]

I love the idea of a Sunday roast - Mum used to do it when we were growing up. However, being vegetarian I'm a bit stumped for an alternative!! Nut roast isn't quite the same somehow!

I'd love to have more traditions, and to establish some for the new little family we're soon to become. I do make sure we get a 'real' Christmas tree every year, and I go to select and cut it down with my mum and sister, and then have great fun decorating it, sometimes I even put carols on while I'm doing it. We always have a Christmas Eve dinner with just my immediate family, which is great fun and more relaxing than the Christmas day extended family onslaught.

I'd like to have some Easter traditions as well when we have our child/children. I used to love the Easter things we did as kids - decorating eggs, the Easter egg hunt etc. We're not religious, but it's still a time of year I like to mark because it's been celebrated for aeons and I like the symbolism.

I think modern, secular society needs more traditions! Well, I do anyway.

Great thread - please keep the good ideas coming!

ETA - I just remembered a great tradition one of my friends has - in November she gets all the ingredients for a fruit cake, and soaks the fruit in brandy for ages and bakes the cake. Then a couple of weeks before Christmas she has a girls' afternoon tea with proper posted invitations and we all exchange small gifts, eat cake and drink tea. It's really nice, she's been doing it for about four years now and it's one of the things I look forward to in the lead-up to Christmas.

[Aimz]

That reminds me Devon - we are big Christmas people in our family. Every year on the 1st of December we put up the tree and decorate it together. Even when my Pop passed away on the 29th November 06 we still put the tree up on the 1st. We always crack open a bottle of champagne and toast when Dad puts the star on the top of the tree.

[Devon]

Amysarah - yes, I love Christmas. Even though I'm getting increasing fed up with the materialistic side of it, I love the anticipation and the tree, the focus on family and the feeling that it's a special time of year. The day itself I find exhausting, it's more the anticipation I enjoy.

I like your family's tradition of toasting the newly-decorated tree! That's great.