The holidays are a great time to establish family traditions. Family holiday traditions
are important because they give families a chance to reconnect and share their lives.
Traditions can also teach family values and provide children with a sense of identity.
Since we are Christian our family has many Christmas holiday traditions that we
participate in every year. It is these family holiday traditions that our children
look forward to with eager anticipation. Here are some traditions that you can
start with your family during this holiday season.
Decorate.
Decorating is a big part of the holiday season. Every year we
decorate our Christmas tree together with Christmas music playing
in the background. The children love looking at their own decorations
and placing them on the tree. Then we finish the evening with hot
chocolate and cinnamon rolls. This year my husband and I
danced in the living room and were soon joined by our
kids for a family dance session. A tradition I think we’ll
have to continue.
Do a countdown.
Start some way that your family counts down to the
special day that your family celebrates. Our
family has two advent calendars that we use. For
one we place a character from the nativity each
day until Christmas. The other one is my children’s
favorite. For each day they get to pick a treat or
small present that is tied to a fabric rope topped by
a stuffed Santa Claus. Some families do something special
every night, like playing a game, drinking hot cocoa,
baking cookies etc. As a child my family would read a
different Christmas related story every night.
Give service.
The holiday season is a wonderful time to teach
your children about the gift of giving. Provide
some type of service. Whether it is letting your
children pick out a toy to donate to charity, or
serving a meal at a local homeless or women’s
shelter. You could sing at a rest home or taking
treats to an elderly neighbor. It’s also fun to be
Santa Claus for a family that can’t afford gifts.
Celebrate religion or culture.
Make your religion or culture a part of your
family holiday traditions. Teach your children
why the holiday is important to you, for example every
Christmas Eve our family watches a movie of the Nativity
story. We also remind our children why we celebrate the holiday.
Make the day special.
Make the day that you celebrate this holiday season
extra special by establishing some traditions. My
sister-in-law’s family would all get new pajamas that
they opened Christmas Eve and then wore Christmas
night. Our family had a special routine that we
followed every Christmas morning. We would wake
our parents up at 6:00am, no earlier. Then my
dad would check to make sure Santa came and turn
on the Christmas tree lights and music. Then we
would line up youngest to oldest and come in
the living room. After seeing the gifts that Santa
had brought we would open up our presents one at a
time starting with the youngest. This way we could
see everything that everyone got. After opening presents
we would eat a big breakfast of eggs, bacon, waffles,
and orange juice.
Establishing family holiday traditions makes
the event even more special and memorable. Try creating
some holiday traditions with your family this year.
