Growing up, I don’t remember having many traditions, at least not any that lasted long. Of course, there was the turkey at Thanksgiving. Arroz con gandules (traditional Puerto Rican rice) was always served as well. But other than that, it was more or less hit or miss. A little of this one year, and a little of that the next.
We can’t do everything
To be clear, there’s nothing inherently wrong with not having traditions. But as a mama with my own family, I can definitely see the value of having a few traditions. I honestly wish we had more, but there’s only so many things I can fully commit myself to. I’d love to be the kind of mom that decorates for every holiday. I think to myself how fun it would be if I could decorate for Valentine’s Day, or the 4th of July, or for Reformation Day! Or even perhaps, if I could put up different curtains for summer than for winter to subtly transition between seasons. Little things like that. But nope. It stresses me out even typing it (good LORD, more work??), so that’s just gonna be a no for me.
However, some holidays or events are just too special not to have at least a couple of yearly traditions. They don’t have to be complicated. But the most important thing is that they’re consistent.
Birthday mornings!
For instance, for every birthday, we blow up the number of balloons according to how old the child is. We then place them on their bed. So if the child is turning 4, they get 4 balloons, and so on. We stop at 18. So a few of our kids are out of circulation, but it’s just a fun, easy thing to do. And they love waking up on their birthday morning to a bunch of balloons around them, along with a gift at their feet to open. FYI, I’m not looking forward to our twins turning 18. Having to blow up 36 balloons sounds awful, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. (:=
Nightly Bible study
Reading God’s Word together after dinner is another tradition we try to do. Certain times of year make this difficult and then it gets put to the back burner. We’re far from perfect about getting this done every day. But honestly, our kids are the ones that will often remind us to do our reading and discussion for the night. 5 or 10 minutes is all we normally do.
Christmas traditions!
Of course, with Christmas coming up I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention we have a few traditions we’ve tried our best to be consistent on. Reading about the birth of Christ in Luke on Christmas morning is hard to do with excited children dying to open presents. But we try to get that in, even if they’re not necessarily paying attention. Again, consistency is key. They all know the Christmas story, but the reminder of why we celebrate the birth of Christ is so important. When kids are little, they rattle off exactly what they’ve learned in school and church about Jesus. It’s great! But by having that tradition of reading God’s Word first, it will hopefully get the message from their head down to their hearts.
Of course, food is always an important part of traditions. I make a cream cheese danish bread that takes forever and a day (literally – I make the puff pastry dough from scratch), however it’s well worth it! It’s only once a year, so it’s a tradition that we all look forward to! Christmas morning is delish!
And of course, who can forget stockings? They’re so fun to do! We always add an ornament for the year (it’s so fun to be able to give your child their ornaments from when they were young! Just don’t get fragile ones – trust me). Other ideas are a small bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos (I know how horrible this is for my children’s stomachs, but it’s a treat and they love it!), Far Side Calendars, crafts, small cars, etc. Again, it’s not that you spend a fortune on the stockings, it’s just being intentional and thoughtful.
Appreciating traditions in church
Although traditions have gotten a bad wrap in church, I now more appreciate how the repetition of certain traditions are not only important for what they’re teaching, they’re also grounding. Just like all of the traditions I’ve touched on above, I think the best part is that our kids love to know that they can expect certain things to happen at certain times. There truly is something comforting in that. And as our children grow and get older, those church traditions (such as, for example, reciting the Nicene Creed or communion) will help them remember what they were taught (Proverbs 22:6).
Family traditions
With all of the chaos in the world, I would highly encourage you to have a few traditions in your family. Traditions can ground us, reminding us that we are a part of something bigger. And ultimately, our traditions can point us to the God Who Himself loved giving His people different traditions to celebrate.
Of course, traditions can get old, but only if we let them. A fun new Christmas tradition to try out with your family could be to read a devotional, such as A Jesus Christmas! Or reading Christmas stories, like Little Christmas Carol. Start small, but start! And pray to be as consistent as possible!
