Traditions

Hi M.,

We had this tradition that my dad started, and now we are starting. It's called "insertlastnamehere" Day. One random morning, my father would wake up and announce that is was "familyname" Day. No one went to work and no one went to school, and we would just do something as a family, go to the beach, park, amusement park (if they were open), sled riding, etc. It was great. We had about 3 of those a year. It's funny because now my brother uses it at work. He announces to his staff that one day that week they could take a "familyname" Day and they wouldn't be docked a sick or vacation day. It was a day for them to do what they wanted. His staff loves it, and really boasts morale.

Wow what great traditions! One tradition we do every year is make Christmas cards for each member of the immediate family (Dad, Mom, Brother, Sister). The kids (and parents) sit down and make a card for each person, a thoughtful card with decorations and words. My daughter still has her brother's card in a plastic case sitting on her dresser - she cherishes it (because he's usually not all lovey-dovey to her, but his card was really nice). It makes the kids really think! And wonderful keepsakes.

There are so many great family traditions here. One I can add is eating breakfast at a metropark on Easter morning. We had a campstove and would cook and eat outside then explore the park.

Hi M.,
My favorite family tradition that I started with my children is not for holiday time, but for their birthday..........
The night before their special day they open a present (always a new pair of PJ's already washed and ready for the night's wear!) Then in themorning I make my "gourmet" french toast ~ thick bread, butter, syrup, sprinkles, & of course candles! They eat their special breakfast on the birthday plate (that I picked up at Hallmark when my oldest was just a baby!) we finish off with fruit & juice and talk about "when they were a baby..." maybe even get out some photos! It's lots of fun for all of us (I have five children ages 11 months (twins) to almost 8) and a great way to start their birthday!
Good Luck....traditions can be so fun (and often so simple!)

Our family has a few simple traditions: picking apples in the fall, family fun nights in the winter where we play board games or card games, bon-fire nights in the summer where we roast marshmellows and tell stories, and spring break vacations to the beach.

M. - One tradition that I remember growing up (and want to start once my little girls - 3 and 1 - get older) is every Friday night we got ponzos (sort of like calzones; but SO MUCH better) and had a family game night. Another tradition I want to start (and someone earlier mentioned it) is a family movie night ... of course, this will probably either be on the same night or in a rotation with family game nights. I work full time now and most Friday nights; I don't want to cook ... so we usually either go out to eat or order pizza that night.

Two "anytime" traditions we like are pancakes on Saturdays for breakfast and singing a lullaby to our kids from the doorway of their room. We had three children and each got to pick their favorite song on "their" night. One was on a "Little Drummer boy" kick for months! Our kids are grown now and they still remember this. I'll be interested to see if they do this with their own children.

At least one Sunday evening a month, we'd have popcorn, apples, cheese, and rootbeer floats for dinner. We'd watch a movie together or just sit around the table and talk about the week to come.

Every other week, we had a family meeting to discuss schedules, school work, pass out allowance, etc...it helped keep us all on the same page, both metaphorically and physically as there was always a calendar involved.

Every Christmas we got one gift on Christmas Eve and it was PJs to wear to bed. It was fun for us kids to have something to open "early" and great because it meant everyone had nice new PJs for pictures in the morning!

We always opened birthday and mother's day/father's day gifts first thing in the morning on the person's bed of whom we were celebrating. MD and FD came with breakfast in bed as well. It made for a sad showing of morning bed head pictures over the years, but it was fun at the time!

Hi M.!

I see you live in OH, and each autumn we take a short trip to beautiful Ohio Amish Country (Holmes County.) Our oldest will be 10 this Oct, so this yr it will be just me and her! (I offered other places, like the lake, but she wants our tradition!) I also have 3 1/2 yr-old boy/girl twins, so this time w/ just her will be wonderful. The autumn leaves and hills are absolutely beautiful, farm animals, FOOD, shopping, very relaxing, hard to think you're still in OH. It was very exciting when she turned 8 and was old enough to take a horseback trail ride. It was my very first time on horseback. As you can see, memories are made w/ traditions...and when she was a baby, we didn't preplan this. Each yr we found ourselves taking a trip there.

OH Amish Country was our first little trip we took as a couple, so this is sweet. I like it so much, I often want to go for my birthday in May, too!

But as for staying home traditions, w/ fall-time holidays coming up like Halloween, I like to pose them in front of a growing tree in our yard and take their picture. That way I can see how the tree, along w/ them, grows each yr. I do this on the first day of school, too.

~K.

Hi M..
Something our family enjoys doing is picking fruits in season. I even found a pick-your-own website where you can locate orchards or farms in your area. http://www.pickyourown.org/index.htm
This year we picked cherries on the 4th of July. We picked blueberries in August, & next week we plan to pick apples. We eat some of the fruit fresh & I freeze the rest for desserts or fruit smoothies in months to come. We also make applesauce with the apples.

Hi M.,

There are a lot of great traditions listed here, & our family shares many of them. If you would still like more I suggest you look up a GREAT company: www.onceuponafamily.com The basis of the company is "The little things are the big things," & some really great ideas, etc. May you have many years of great traditions, they matter SOOOO much!

Hi M.,
A tradition that we started with my daughter at Christmas time was the advent candle. She is going to be 5 and still asks, quite often, if it is time for the advent calendar. A new tradition that we started last year was called the Shelf Elf. It was a gift for my children before Christmas. It is a book that comes with a little elf doll. You read the book and you allow your child to put the elf, after they have named it, anywhere in the house. The idea behind it is the when the kids go to bed the shelf elf, Melvin the Elf in our home, goes back to the North Pole and tells Santa how the kids have been behaving. Then when he returns to your home he is sitting somewhere else in the house. You do it from Dec 1st till Dec 24. On the 24 the elf stays at the North Pole and returns the next year. It is a lot of fun and really gets everyone in the holiday spirit. I hope that these ideas have helped you.
L.

I see you've gotten some great ideas already... I thought I'd add just one more. At Christmas time, I take my children to pick out a Christmas present for Toys For Tots. I have them pick out something that they'd like to have, and then we take it to a drop off place. It helps teach them that Christmas is not just about them and what gifts they'll receive... giving is what it's all about! =)

We have a lot of little traditions, some intentional and some just because, you'll be amazed at what comes about as your child gets older. But mostly ours are as basic as making popcorn and watching a movie with the kids saturday night, or making smores in the summer, the snow had barely melted and my kids wanted to know if we could go out and have a fire, lol. Christmas we exchange our gifts on christmas eve and then Santa comes the next morning, that way they get to enjoy the items that they picked out for each other. we also always read my copy dated 1981 from my grandmother of the night before christmas. We tag our christmas tree at a tree farm and cut it down together, bring it home the weekend after thanksgiving and put 1 ornament a piece on it every night before bed till christmas eve when we put up the star. halloween time we have a party, it's shortly after school starts so we get to see old friends we didn't over the summer and meet new ones before friends get put on hold for the holidays and family time. sunday morning we have a big breakfast all of us together or we go out to eat. and new years was a glitch, we let the kids stay up two years ago and while trying to explain the normal tradition my then 7 year old got confused, so we now make peanut butter toast, and hand out hersey kisses at midnight. Tradition is about being able to expect to do a certain thing at a certain time and looking forward to it, it can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be, but i know for me those are the moments i look back and remember.

Just a few things we do as a family.

For birthdays we go on vacation for the oldest one's(b/c it's in Jan.). Our vacations usually consist of a trip to GG grandma's house, which is 600 mi. away. If the finances aren't there for a real vacation, we all spend the night at a hotel and do some swimming, pizza, and just feeling like it's a getaway. Knowing how hard it is to make time to do special stuff the oldest one really loves knowing we're gong somewhere for his birthday.

For the youngest whose bday is in June, we all go camping. I'm not big into presents and more junk, so I let family members buy presents, and I buy the cake. He absolutely loves camping btw, so it's not like we're shorting him or making him feel like we love him less by not buying stuff.

Springtime, we go pick out flowers and seeds to plant in the yard. The kids have always loved getting their hands dirty planting stuff and then watching the fruits of their labors as the plants grow. This also doubles as an educational experience. ;) Keeping it cheap this year, we only spent about $10, and still had a yard full of beauty before summer was halfway over. I think I started this before they were 2. What little boy doesn't love dirt after all? lol

For Thanksgiving, my husband and I have been throwing Thanksgiving parties since before we had children. Although, they have changed ALOT since the kids. ;) Usually, the weekend before T-day we have our close friends and their families over for turkey and games like Cranium family fun or even UNO. Something that can include everyone of all ages. We even played twister a couple times. lol.

Have fun watching your little one grow. They grow so fast it makes your head spin to look back. ;)

I think the simplest traditions are the ones kids remember and cherish the most. You don't have to spend a lot of money or do anything extravagant, just make it memorable.

My husband had a birthday tradition growing up where, on your birthday you got to pick out whatever food/meal you wanted for the day. His birthday meal was ALWAYS pizza, macaroni and cheese, and butterscotch pudding.

Every Saturday, my husband would get to go to his Grandma's house for donuts. It was like their special time.

A tradition my family had was Christmas shopping. There were three of us and we each got our 'shopping weekend' with mom. We would go to the mall, buy our gifts, then have lunch. Upon returning home we would wrap them together. It was nice because we got mom all to ourselves on that day.

I love the idea of a monthly 'date'/'bonding' night with only one parent. Let the kid pick the restaurant or activity and go with it.

Good luck and have fun! I'm curious to read what other parents write.

First of all, don't sell yourself short. I bet you've already started some traditions that you don't even realize. For example, do you have birthday cake on birthdays? Do you carve pumpkins for Halloween? Bake Christmas cookies? Have an Easter egg hunt? Those are traditions!

We have a blended family, so we incorporate traditions from both families as well as some of our own. Here are some of our favorites month by month:

January: Sauerkraut & pork on new years day
February: ice skating
March: Easter egg hunt; Easter bunny cake
April: Visiting the zoo
May: Annual Family photo to celebrate our family anniversary
June: Picking Strawberries; Drive-in Theater
July: 4th of July fireworks; Football HOF Balloon Festival
August: Camping; Farmers Market
September: Going to an apple orchard; making applesauce/pie
October: Metroparks Fall Hiking Spree, Pumpkin Farm
November: Thanksgiving at my sister's house
December: Baking Christmas cookies; Letters to Santa

Did you notice that most of these activities are FREE? Have fun creating memories!!

M...We as a family always ate together at a dinner table where we would always pray and share the days events. No television. It was a good time to connect. It seems that today families are too busy and on the go to eat together and I think they have really lost something.

There's always things at holiday time you can make your own special time. We always have family in for Christmas eve and have snacks. God bless, M. B.

I had traditions growing up and slightly different ones for my children due to distance of close family, job obligations, etc., but here a few you can always enjoy together.
We always started off New Years Day with an immediate family breakfast and spent the time talking about what we wanted to do together as a family that year with one of us having the calander and marking the special days.
We always decorated the windows for Valentines Day in the livingroom, etc., as a mother and child project. Daddy always gave each of his family members a valentine just from him, mommy always made a special treat for each family member as well which was served at dinner (heart shaped jello, cupcakes, cookies, etc.,) and the dinner was eatten together.
St. Patrick's Day was special for our family because of our heritage. Shamrocks, etc., decorated the windowns, if it was a weekend there was corned beef (which is not an irish dish but enjoyed anyway) or a nice irish stew with soda bread. We played Irish Rover music, danced a bit, etc.
Easter was always a decorated house, bunnies, baskets, chicks, etc., in the windows. We colored eggs together and put them on display for the bunny to hide. We always found time to take the children to an egg hunt someplace the day before and they were expected to wait until dinner time to show us all of the wonderful things they collected. Egg hunting was done before church and we went to church as a family on Easter Sunday. A big family brunch together and it was a big dinner too. The day was spent with family and close friends playing games, and being together.
We made MayDay baskets, sometimes with construction paper, as they got older they made them from egg cartons, and together we went through the neighborhood delivering them to the elderly people there. Even to one of the retirement villages in the area. The older people so enjoy seeing children and make a big deal out of the small contribution.
We always went to the Memorial Day parade! If one of the adults worked the other one took the children! We visited the cemetaries, planted flowers on the graves together, had a meal outside together, and planted a few flowers and vegetables in a small garden at home.
Always took the children to the 4th of July parade. Always took them to a fireworks display somewhere as a family.
Labor Day was a family day, other than cooking no one did anything that was considered work. Cookouts with family and friends, games together etc.
Halloween was a well decorated house, a trip to the pumpkin patch, designing and carving and roasting the seeds together, costumes, pictures of the child in costume and trick or treating with one of the parents to places where we knew the families.
Thanksgiving meant a well decorated home again, everyone got to help with the meal, family, close friends, and again games and time together with everyone sharing what they were thankful for and trying not to laugh when the children said things like, "I am thankful for candy".
We baked Christmas cookies together over several weeks. Decorated the house, the children had their own tree to decorate with ornaments they had helped make or had been given to them over the years. Church on Christmas Eve as a family, the children allowed to open one gift before bed, and naturally "Night Before Christmas" was read or recited every year. Christmas morning was dictated by the children and when they got up. Never any rushing for my children, we always had to rush when I was a child because Christmas Eve was spent with one set of grandparents and everyone had to be at the other grandparents house by noon. I hated that growing up so we didn't do it. If there was a family dinner on Christmas Day it was always after three in the afternoon.
The Birthdays are special and should always be recognized on the person's birthday. They always got to pick out what they wanted for dinner and it was followed by cake, ice cream, and their gifts. If they have a party for friends it was on the weekend and a separate party.
Always take pictures, do a nice photo album for each child with at least one picture of each special family day and let them help with the album. It is something they will always have. Each trip to the zoo, a special day at the park, a trip to the museum, going to the book store for a special book purchase, special times with grandparents, aunts and uncles, the ball games, recitals, the first pulled tooth.
Traditions are always a special time spent annually with a family. We all set our own.
My children had as much fun decorating the house as they did on the holidays. They really got into helping bake cookies, make candy, even helping make stuffing for the turkey or chickens as they did on the holiday itself.

my favorite tradition is the Easter bunny. When my boys wake up on Easter,the bunny makes them search foe their baskets. It started off as a trail of jellybeans, then picture clues. Now at 9 and 10, they have rhymes . About seven clues with each clue leading to the next until the last leads to the basket. What is awesome is that they sit and reminece about each hunt.

I saw lots of holiday traditions offered and have those also but wanted to share a couple non-holiday ones. First, I have 4 kids (5th on the way!) ranging from 7- 10 mos. We ALWAYS have pizza on friday nights. When someone asks the kids what we are doing for the weekend, they say we have pizza on Friday. Sometimes we go out for pizza, sometimes we have frozen and a movie, sometime we make it homemade. We try tons of recipes and enjoy the different pizzas. It doesn't have to be expensive and can fun putting the pizzas together!
For Christmas (I know it is a holiday one too) we always get new, matching pajamas. We open them on Christmas Eve and everyone wears them to bed. Sometimes we have just a theme (Mickey Mouse one year) and sometimes they are all the same (red and white last year). THere are lots of fun thigns you can do with it.
Good luck and enjoy making fun special things with your family!

Hello M. one trdition we always did which in this economy would benefit many families is to limit the number of gify=ts your children get at Christmas time. It doesn't mean you love them less. The most important person in the worlad only got 3 gifts on his christmas birth. So I never recieved more than 3 from the parents and my children and grandchildren do not receive more than 3. One is always the want (cost is limited too) the second is from me the needed gift usually clothes and then one from Dad something Dad feels he wants to share with the child.. My kids and grand kids all will tell you 3 gifts was good enought for Christ so it's good enough for them. The oldest once told me I know you love us you do so much for us throughout the year. I am at every sporting even and every concert even if Mom and Dad can't come. The other grandma jsut throws money at them. Now while they do like all the money they do know the difference and have stated so.
Another thing I id every year was make some new ornamnets for the tree and when the boys moved out they got to take a box full of ornamnets for their first tree on their own. The tears in their eyes (they are both boys and boys od cry) was worth all the hassle of saving them no matter how crudely they were made. We made them and some years I did buy special ones to commemorate something special.
I hope this helps.

Oh, we had some great traditions in our family when I was growing up. We too opened ONE gift on Xmas Eve. It was always from our dog, and it was always new PJs so that we'd look awesome in our OOOOH! picture the next morning. On Thanksgiving, we always had to go around the table - one-by-one - to say what we were thankful for. My cousin was the only boy in the family since my grandfather was born, so Grandpa always took Cameron out for a doughnut on Christmas Eve day - just the "men" - and he always bought him a loud, noisy, flashy toy gun for Christmas. Every 5 years we'd get professional pictures taken as a whole big extended family to pick up new additions and see the kids' growth...

Hi M.,

You've gotten lots of fantastic ideas! I'd like to share one of my favorite things that we do with my kids on Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve I go to the local party store and purchase plain latex balloons filled with helium in the color each child chooses for the year. Then on Christmas morning before we head out to the grandparents we release the balloons and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. The balloons are his birthday present. Every time my kids get a helium filled balloon they talk about if they don't hold onto it tight it will go up to Jesus. Just something small that they can do to celebrate Jesus' birthday-- plus it's fun to watch them go so high until you can't see them anymore.

My favorite tradition with my son is to bake a cake for Baby Jesus on Christmas Eve. He gets to pick the kind of cake and icing, gets to help make it, gets to help frost it, and of course, he adds the sprinkles. On Christmas Day we light a candle and sing Happy Birthday, and my son gets to blow out the candle for the baby. He looks forward to this every year. We also make cookies for the neighbors and deliver them at Christmas time.

One thing we started late but will continue from last birthday is to take a picture on his birthday holding a sign with his new age on it. We only have done it twice but he already likes to look at what a difference a year makes.

We have mom's and dad's day out with our kids. They love it. They get to pick what we do and it gives us one on one time with them, while making them feel special. Also, for events and holidays, we make cookies for Santa and set them out with milk and cookies (not a very unusual tradition). We sing happy birthday to Jesus before we open our presents on Christmas morning, we go to a cabin for the weekend with my husband's side of the family every October.

We have two daughters (an "almost 5" and an "almost 2").

Every year, the night before each of their birthday's, he takes the birthday girl out to dinner. Depending on how it goes, he may then go to the store to get the Christmas Dress or something. I'm sure the other activity may change as the girls get older. Regardless, the night before the birthday is "daddy's night" with the birthday girl.

every friday night the whole family has popcorn movie night. Its something for them to look forward to everyweek. we also make pancakes every sunday morning.

This is a great question! When I got married, I decided that I wanted to form some new traditions and keep some of my old favorites. My husband is Japanese, so there are quite a few cultural differences between our family traditions. Thanks for asking this. I got some new ideas. I noticed a lot of people mentioned holiday traditions. I found some great resources if you are Christian for focusing on Christ during Easter and Christmas. Resurrection Eggs and What God Wants For Christmas, both by FamilyLife. My son is only 15 months now, but I plan on making it a family tradition once he is old enough to understand. One tradition present wise in my family was that the Easter Bunny always brought socks, underwear, a new toothbrush and tube of paste while Santa's useful gift was school supplies. But I think the two most cherished traditions that we did in my family were going to the zoo every summer and the Saturday morning picnics in the park. I expecially remember the picnics. My parents were divorced and money was tight for my mother and me. Never-the-less without fail, we always did our Saturday morning picnic in the park. We did it year-round. It didn't matter if it was summer or winter. In the colder months we would sit in our car and eat, covered up with wool blankets and several layers of clothing because we didn't want to waste gas. Sometimes we made our picnic food together, other times we got something from the deli in the supermarket or the occational fast food picnic. We watched the ducks at the pond or the squirrels running up and down the trees. We collected leaves and acorns in the fall. It was always my special time with my mom and we could talk about anything during that time. This tradition started when I was 7 and I think we continued until I was in high school and became too involved with club activities to do every week. But when I look back at my childhood, those picnics are the time I remember the best. It didn't cost my mother much money to do it either. Hope you can get many new ideas from everyone's replies!

Little things DO matter! Little things become traditions if you do them consistently.

Sunday night dinner was always hot dogs, popcorn and marshmallows in front of the Wonderful World of Disney when I was a kid. (It was the only time we were allowed to watch TV during dinner) In the winter we cooked the hotdogs and marshmallows over a fire in the fireplace. We had six long, extending toasting forks that were from my mom's family; I have three now, my sister has the other three. We still use them, but not every week.

Christmas at our house has a lot of traditions, most of them food-related. My sister comes to stay with us; she always brings baked but undecorated cookies. We decorate them in wild ways, then give an award for the ugliest and the prettiest--for some reason the ugliest is a more revered award. We always have hot ham sandwiches for dinner on Christmas Eve. Then we take a family picture by the tree or the hearth. Then we open presents. (I know, that one is odd, but both my and my husband's family always did that. German heritage maybe?) Christmas morning is stockings. At Christmas dinner we have a Christmas pyramid (nativity scene that spins via candle-power) and we always burn a big candle that was lit off my parents' Christmas candle, which was lit off of my grandparents' Christmas candle.... Plum pudding with hard sauce for dessert. (My mom started that one because it could cook on the stovetop instead of in the oven, which was full of roast and rolls)

Easter, the 'Easter Bunny' hides jelly beans around the house for the kids to find. They put out their empty baskets the night before. We put a chocolate bunny and some other candy in there, then hide the jelly beans. Over the years (boys are 15 and 20!) but the hiding places have gotten higher and trickier. We often find last year's when we are hiding this year's, lol!

Birthdays we decorate the table for dinner, b-day boy's choice for dinner, cake with 7-minute frosting, then presents.

Traditions don't have to be anything fancy. We try to go on at least one family hike every fall, in the spring I go for a walk around the yard with one son to find things growing in the garden. Just make a point to make little thing special; do it again and you will have a new tradition.

One that I thought after reading your post was that once our child turns 3 on their birthday we do whatever they want to do with just that child. We have 4 children and so the rest get to stay w/Gma or a babysitter and we take the one child his/her place of choice to eat and then whatever he/she wants to do. This gives them one on one time w/the parent and lets them have a special day that is all about them. Usually at age 3 even they are not sure so most often than not we end up at a Disney movie and then go to eat at a kid friendly restaurant.

Best wishes!

M.,
Just a couple of our favorites....
Every Mother's Day, I receive something living, i.e. 1st MD was a rose, 2nd MD was a betta fish, 3rd was a tree
Every Father's day we either find a cool and unique coffee mug or make one for Daddy. He is a coffee NUT, so this fits for him but the concept can be adapted to any Dad's favorite things.
For Christmas everyone gets a personalized ornament. It doesn't necessarily have their name on it, but it's something very specific to their taste or interests. I do always write the year somewhere on it though : )
We also make it a point to always wake up at home on Christmas morning, it's meant some long drives late at night on Christmas Eve but it's worth it.
The great thing about traditions is that they can be anything you make it a point to do...my absolute favorite is part of our bedtime routine. It started as me trying to get the message across that my son needed to stay in bed later in the morning. I would say to him at night, "I'll see you in the morning" and he would say "when the sun comes up" Now two years later, he won't let me out of the room without our recitation : )
Have fun, and find the things that make your son giggle!

We took our kids to Beasley's Orchard in Danville and rode the haywagon to the pumpkin field. Each of our kids picked out their own pumpkins. We eat carmel apples while we're there.
Then, we would carve our pumpkins- I let the kids decide how they wanted the faces to look. And I would roast the pumpkin seeds and scoop enough pumpkin out to make a pie for Thanksgiving.
We are now starting this tradition with our grandkids.

We do a lot of the traditions mentioned here...another one I just started is that we pick a country and then learn about it all day. Our latest one was China so we learn some Chinese words, go to the library and get books/music, go to the zoo to see which animals are from that country, look on an atlas to find the country, find coloring pages, make food from that country for dinner, and we pray before meals and bedtime for the missionaries that are in that country. The kids always have questions and are anxious to learn. Also, my son was really into the Olympics so I incorporated that by looking up the country's athletes and their sport.

From the time I was young enough to remember my parents and I went on "dates." They took turns taking off work and took me out to do something special. My dad was a salesman and would take me on his sales route with him sometimes and we would eat lunch in a little mom and pop diner in a small town. As I got older it was special because they would take me out of school for out "date". It could be to go to the movies, or to go feed the ducks. A couple of times my mom and I went together on a weekend to see azaleas three hours away.

It made me feel so special. Like they would stop the world just to spend time with me.

Another one was going to the diner with my dad on Saturdays for biscuits and gravy. We would go to this little restaurant in our tiny little town and eat breakfast while all the old me came in to "shoot the breeze."

I have two traditions that I want to share. Make a cake or cookies the day before their first day of school. When they come home after their first day of school you two can eat the cake while he or she tells you all about their first day. Also, we make xmas gifts for the men who pick up our trash. I'm fortunate to go to a great cookie exchange every year. When I get home, we divide the cookies and put them in tins that I buy at the dollar store. It teaches him to respect what people do for a living and it teaches him about giving at xmas season.

we have alot of traditions in my family, my husband's side of the family always treated b-days & holidays like any other day, so he was taken back abit when he married me & saw how my family is.

New Years Eve:we all sit up & watch the ball drop then shoot off a couple fire works & have a barn fire & cook hotdogs & marshmellows.

Easter: i make a cake in whatever shape my son picks out(usually a bunny), we have a big get together & everyone brings something to eat, & wehave an egg hunt for the kids & whoever finds the glitter egg gets to say the grace at supper time.

chirstmas is my all time fav. i start planning for everything in august, i make about 6-10 different kinds of treats with my son. on christmas eve before bedtime i or my husband reads the story out of the bible on how Jesus was born, then we light a candle & sing happy birthday to Jesus.
There are so many holidays that we celebrate it's too much to write on here. hope these few help. God be with you.

Picking pumpkins from a pick your own patch and taking them home to carve them and roast the seeds. This is so fun and we did it while I was growing up, then we continued to do it as grown-ups with our spouses and now we do it with our kids! Lots of fun memories.

What a great topic! I love all these ideas. One thing we've started is really trying to "observe the Sabbath"-no work on Sunday, just family/friends, relaxation/rest, and prayer/worship; hiking is one of our favorite Sunday afternoon activities!

Here's one for the autumn. Your son may be too young for this yet, but I have always sent everyone I love a Thanksgiving card in which I write "I'm thankful for you." If I don't get the cards out in time, I call everyone and tell them I'm thankful for them. They always seem genuinely touched by the effort.

Around Christmas: I also plan to have my kids give gifts to charities (for other children) once they are old enough to understand.

I would build tradtions around what you like to do. If you like to bake or cook, make the same foods every year for each holiday. They will become special. If you like music or movies, build something around them. If you like arts and crafts, do holiday-specific ones.
What do you already love to do? I'm sure you can build it into a tradition.

Hi, here are some traditions I am planning on doing with our little one…

* Star Birthday (this was my sister-in-law’s family tradition) – The “most special” birthday celebration is on the birthday that coordinates with the date they were born. For example, if your child’s birthday is March 13th, then their 13th birthday is their star birthday. It’s treated as a very special day - they get 13 presents and 13 candles on their cake and everything is in 13’s.

* Name Day – If you’re Christian (or even if you’re not) look up a saint whose name is closest to your child’s and find their feast day. My daughter is Elizabeth, so we chose St. Elizabeth of Hungary whose feast day is November 17th. So, every year on the feast day, Elizabeth will get a little gift (we’re going to do little religious gifts like bible story books or religious toys).

* Tooth Fairy – The first time your child loses a tooth, buy a helium balloon and attach a note to the tooth fairy to let her know that she needs to come and start collecting teeth for your child. You and your child can write the note together and release the balloon up into the sky. After that, you can just put a note in the mailbox or on the kitchen counter every time you need to “notify” the tooth fairy of a loose tooth. Also, invest in some “unique” currency, instead of the traditional dollars (like a gold Sacagawea coin or a half-dollar or a $2 bill). Then it will seem as though the tooth fairy has access to “special” money.

* Easter – Hide Easter eggs with clues and goodies inside. When all the eggs are found, the child puts the clues together to figure out where the Easter Bunny has hid their basket. You can buy a blank puzzle from a craft store and draw a map of how to get to the basket, for example, and when the puzzle is put together, the child can find their basket.

* Halloween – Dress up as a family in themed costumes. Every year the family must come up with an idea for what to be as a group and then build costumes by visiting the thrift store and Halloween shops. The emphasis is to try to build a costume and come up with something unique, rather than just buy it.

* Advent – We have an advent calendar with opening doors that have candy in each slot and also a note with instructions for giving. For example, one note might read “Give 10-cents for each water faucet in the house,” or “Donate 1 penny for each book you own.” At the end of the month, you add up all the money and then donate it to a charity as a Christmas gift. You can find examples of good “giving ideas” online (that’s where I found mine).

* St. Nicholas’s Day – On the 6th of December, have your child lay out their shoes at night for St. Nicholas to come. He generally leaves small gifts like little toys and candy (just things that could fit in a shoe). It’s kind of a fun activity on the lead up to Christmas.

* Ornaments – This one is a surprise for my daughter. I am buying her 1-3 nice boxed ornaments each year until she moves out and has her own home. When she moves out or gets married, I plan on giving her a big box of ornaments for her Christmas tree in her new home. This way, she’ll have something to decorate her first tree with and all the ornaments will represent the years she was growing up. I am also including a little note along with each ornament about why I chose it for her.

When I was a kid we celebrated the first day of Spring. My mom took us out to buy something Spring-y (usually sunglasses but one year it was a sprinkler toy for the yard) and an ice cream cone. It was a great way to welcome fair weather after a long Ohio winter.

Hello, Some of my favorite family traditions are : Church on Easter Sunday followed by a dinner and egg and scavenger hunt for all the kids, Fourth of July cookouts at my sisters pool, Hayrides to pick pumpkins to carve in fall, baking Christmas cookies and treats while listening to Christmas music. Christmas morning waffle breakfast, buying and gathering things for a huge Christmas basket for less fortunate families, Going to see Christmas lights followed by hot chocolate, Thanksgiving dinners, and sledding at the first snowfall. I think traditions are a very important part of a family. I treasure the traditions that have been passed down and look forward to passing them to my children. Have fun creating and passing down your new traditions!

Baking holiday treats.....this can be ANY holiday. Decorating the house or room or door for holidays, going to certain places at certain times of the year, working on photo albums or scrapbooks every 3-4 months. Calendars w/ photos on them, playing games on Thanksgiving night, staying in PJs all day during Christmas vacation and baking and playing games, reading Christmas story from the Bible on Christmas eve...you can read a FAVORITE Christmas story or ANY favorite story on specific holidays.....watching THE CHRISTMAS STORY the day after THANKSGIVING to kick off the holiday.

Awesome question! I didn't have time to read all the post so I apologize if I repeat.. but a few traditions that my husband and I have started in our family first & foremost is a namesake.. We have both and son & a daughter and another son expected in Jan of '09.. both sons will carry on my husbands middle name and my daughter carries on my middle name. We also started the tradition of having a pinata at the b-day parties (since my husband is Mexican) it put a little cultural tradition into play. Also we started to go to the duck pond on Sunday's after dinner to feed the ducks bread or popcorn and to then play on the park equipment. I know in my family we always did cookies for xmas & decorated the tree.. but it got to the point that it wasn't fun, but more of a chore that you dreaded the holiday. So b careful on how i guess you start your tradition and how 'mandatory' it may be! I know my husband and I just started out and we're just starting our own little family traditions so you'll find what you like to do and ideas along the way.. good luck & have fun with it!!

one tradition we have is that on christmas eve the kids each have a gift just 'magically' appear on their beds that they get to open...it's always new PJ's and sometimes slippers and/or a bedtime book. that way they get new pretty PJ's for christmas morning pictures. :)

Hi M.,
I love sharing my family tradition. I have 3 Godchildren and every year since the oldest and the middle boys were 3 and 2 we made cookies for santa. When their sister turned 2 the next year she joined in on the fun. Now they are 19, 18 and 16 and we still make cookies. What's even more exciting is that I have a daughter who will be 2 in November. Last year she went to sleep while we were making cookies but this year she will be able to help and I will get to tell her the cookies she is making are for Santa. I can't wait for Christmas this year. Good luck on starting a tradition with your family.

we just started one two years ago that no one can interfere with (grandparents relatives etc) we save valentines day for our FAMILY LOVE FEST ( sound creepy I Know but the kids named it)Since it is a holiday about love, and we all love one another we decided to share it with our greatest visuals of our love, our children.

I make crab cakes, or crab legs ( or both), baked potatoes, green beans, salad, and we get the best cuts of steack we can find... we make a red cake in the shape of a heart and serve dinner with sparkling grape juice in champagne flutes and we take turns toasting to those we love and why. Oh, we use the good china and crystal and real silver silverware and set the DINNING room table. NO afterschool activites are allowed and then we play games and watch movies and hang as a family with no interuptions ie telephone calls and the like. It is our own special holiday.

Hi M.,

You are very thoughtful to want to create traditions in your home, even though you did not grow up with any. I think some of the most lasting traditions come from finding a place of worship as a family. Its a tradition that gives support and strength to your child long after he is out of your home and influence. Some of these are so much fun for children and they have a whole other church "family" of people they grow to care about outside of their real family, friends and neighbors. The ritual of going to a place as a family and experiencing music, wonderful group pitch-ins, community volunteering and projects, and for children plays and theatre.

Since you little guy is young, here are some ideas of things you could do right now: Visit a local orchard every fall for apple picking, do the same at pumpkin harvest time and take a hay ride, take your son on Saturdays to the Farmer's market and always get a special treat while you walk around, pick one day of the week that is upside down dinner and make breakfast food, celebrate all family birthdays by everyone helping to make the cake (kids love stirring and licking spoons). have a no TV evening and play games instead; plant a small garden where you son helps, this could even be on a porch or in containers. This is a wonderful thing to look forward to each Spring with children able to select seed packets to plant. So many things that are simple can become family traditions - be creative and have fun!

Hi M.! Good for you in wanting to establish traditions! Since my twin neices were born, I've spent Christmas Eve at their house opening a few presents, then sleeping overnight for Christmas morning. They are 12 now, and they mention our "tradition" every year! It's fun to try to beat them downstairs Christmas morning! My family also celebrates the holidays at one house ... dinner in the afternoon, then games, talking and playing the rest of the day. Everyone brings a dish (homemade) and the house is filled with all kinds of delicious smells. My favorite game is one my sister-in-law made up a couple of years ago at Easter, the Adult Egg Hunt (I call it the Backwards Egg Hunt!). All the kids hide eggs outside for the adults and the adults go on a search. Near the end, the kids run around and help anyone who can't find all of his or her eggs. For birthdays, we celebrate (loosely) every two months and have dinner out at a restaurant the birthday people like, they go to someone's house for presents, cake and ice cream. I know I'm fortunate to have a great family! God bless, M.

Kidnap day - once a year, my mom would "kidnap" us (from school) and we got to do anything we wanted to do with her that day.

January - we always made paper snowflakes to decorate the windows with.

February - we sat and made our own valentines from doilies (sp?), hearts, construction paper, stamps, markers, etc.

On certain holidays the ________ Milk Fairy would come and color our milk an odd color. (Food coloring) Valentine's day - pink St. Patrick's Day - Green Easter - blue, grean or pink July 4th - red or blue Halloween - orange
Christmas - red or green

April - decorated easter eggs at the kitchen table, Easter dinner with extended family, Hunted for Easter eggs, easter basket and jelly beans all over the house

July - went to the fireworks as a family

October - decorated for Thanksgiving, carved pumpkins as a family, went trick-or-treating OR did something together as a family (went to the movies,mini golf, bowling, etc.)

November - Thanksgiving with my extended family At Thanksgiving dinner we would always go around the table and say at least one thing that we were thankful for.
The day after Thanksgiving, we decorated for Christmas. We all put ornaments on the tree together as a family while listening to Christmas music and enjoying egg nog. Also, we put the Nativity Scene up together as a family. The Creche was put in place and then each member of the family took turns unwrapping a figurine and placing it (sometimes with parental assistance) wherever we thought it should go.

December - we would gather up 5 - 10 toys, books, stuffed animals, etc. (since we were going to be getting new toys for Christmas) and give them to a needy family.
Christmas Eve - service at church and then family dinner where we always had at least one person who didn't have a place to go (family near by, etc.) join us. Christmas morning, we (kids) were not allowed downstairs until Mom and Dad told us we could come down. We would go get our stockings and open them. Then we would fix our plates for breakfast (ALWAYS had Pull-Aparts (some people call this Monkey Bread or Bubble Bread) an egg dish of some kind, egg nog, juice, fruit and Kolackys (sp?). One person played "Santa" and passed out one gift to the first person. Everyone watched them open it and then "Santa" passed out the next present, etc. until all the gifts were opened. Something that I do with MY kids is that everyone opens one present on Christmas Eve and it is always a new pair of jammies. OH! AND something that I have also carried on with my kids is that they always get a "book box" at Christmas. In fact, my brother when he was 19 or 20 did not get one and was disappointed and asked my Mom (jokingly but, honestly), "Where is my book box?"

Birthdays - we got to choose what we had for dinner that night or where we wanted to go for dinner. The kitchen was always decorated with streamers, balloons and the Happy Birthday sign. After dinner we would have cake and ice cream and no one could take a bite until the Birthday Boy/Girl took their first bite.

I was lucky to have a lot of traditions growing up. My mom did not have any growing up and grew up in a rough, alcoholic home and so she made an effort to change that for all of us. I can honestly say that I had an awesome childhood! I loved my parents and I knew they loved me. I loved all the family things we did together, including eating dinner at the kitchen table each night as a family.

Well, I hope this helped some. I am sure that I have forgotten some but, there is the gist of the yearly traditions that we had!

Family oriented magazines sometimes have good ideas too.
Parents, Parenting, Child, Wondertime, Family Fun.

Your child(ren) will appreciate having those traditions to look forward to and to rely on! Good luck!