Traditions Old and New

Recently, ET and I have been talking a lot about traditions, both those from our childhood and those that we would like to establish for our own children. Perhaps this is because we now have three kids, or because we have hosted Christmas for four years in a row, or because we have been married long enough to know that it is important to have conversations like this from time to time…But the past couple of months have been full of tradition-making. Here are a few ideas that my husband and I have had, but please feel free to add your own thoughts about family traditions!

1) Family Fun Night – This was a great idea that ET had about a month ago. We tell the kids in the morning that we’ll be having a “family fun night,” which basically  means that we’ll eat a fun dinner and watch a family movie together. So far, we’ve rented “The Absent-Minded Professor” and “The Shaggy Dog,” and for dinner we’ve made homemade pizzas and sub sandwiches. The kids thought that it was great to get to watch such a long movie together, and we’ve just really enjoyed the chance to be together as a family! Usually one of us is chasing the baby and then putting her to bed halfway through, but that’s okay! ET and I love that Netflix allows us to rent such a wide variety of family-friendly movies, and we’ve found that some of the movies from our own childhood have stood the test of time – all of us find them funny and entertaining.

2) Christmas traditions:

– Singing Christmas carols on New Year’s Eve was a family tradition from my childhood, but to make this tradition our own, ET bought me a great piano book of Christmas carols and I play the piano while the family sings. It worked out pretty well this year, although mom was a bit rusty and the kids were a bit worked up! I’m sure that future years will run more smoothly 😉

-Food: We’ve had the same Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas morning breakfast for the past 3-4 years, so I’m going to say that these meals are now officially a family tradition 🙂 Christmas Eve is crab cakes (no, my kids won’t eat them) and Christmas morning is cinnamon rolls before Mass, and make-ahead strata and fruit after Mass…And plenty of coffee and juice to keep everyone moving!

-Rituals: We light the Advent wreath and do one Jesse Tree ornament at dinnertime…When time and the childrens’ moods allow! We also read “Twas the Night Before Christmas” and leave cookies/milk/carrots for Santa and his reindeer on Christmas Eve, and Santa leaves a note for the children on Christmas morning – lots of fun!

3) Mealtime Grace: In addition to our usual “Bless Us O Lord” before meals, we’ve added a prayer that requires participation from each individual and changes with the liturgical seasons. It’s very simple and goes like this:

Our help is in the name of the Lord (Dad)/Who made heaven and earth (mom)/Come, Lord Jesus! (Christopher)/We love you, Lord Jesus! (Maria)

Christopher’s part changes with the liturgical season; in Advent he says “Come, Lord Jesus,” during Christmas he says “Welcome…,” right now he’s saying “Be with us…,” during Lent it will be “Forgive us…,” and Easter will be “Alleluia…”

What are your family traditions? We’d love to hear from you!

God bless you all this Monday morning!