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?
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.
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...
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
Last edited by Devon; August 12th, 2008 at 12:59 PM.
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.
Family Traditions
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