Sunday, December 5, 2010

Family Traditions

Family traditions are a great way to help everyone feel connected and an important member of the family. It gives a chance to spend time together doing something fun and enjoyable that will hopefully last for years to come. While our family doesn't have a lot of traditions we follow during the year due to our ever changing schedules (I work a rotating shift with different days off every week and am attending graduate school). We do have several that are associated with Christmas. Here is a list of our family's traditions. Please feel free to leave a comment with things your family enjoys doing. I am still looking for more holiday activities with my kids.

1) Chocolate advent calendar. Every day (usually in the morning) the kids get to open one door on their advent calendar and find a piece of chocolate. We are counting down the days until Christmas. In case you are curious, we are at 20 days now.

2) Sending holiday cards. Okay. I try really hard to get them out early but it rarely happens. I even sometimes send them after Christmas but I do always send them.

3) A new Christmas ornament. Every year the kids each get to pick out one special Christmas ornament. We haven't bought ours for this year but will this week. I really like this tradition because it gives me a rememberance of what the kids were like and interested in at this time every year. For instance, 2 years ago Jacob discovered the wonder of Santa Claus and picked out a Santa ornament. Last year he was all about Disney Pixar's Cars movie and got a Cars ornament. I will try to remember to tell everyone what the kids pick out this year.

4) Christmas cookies. We are going to alter this one a little this year (I think). We will bake a few extra cookies and take them to neighbors who have been extra kind to us in the past year. This year they will probably go to our neighbors Kris and Sylvia.

5) Christmas lights. We drive through the city Christmas light display every year. I usually take our friend, P, with us. She lives near the light display and it's a fun way to end our evening together.

This year I am also hoping to make popcorn balls with the kids. I'm not sure how well it will turn out. If it turns out well, this may also become a holiday tradition.

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