It's a Family Tradition

"Traditions are behaviors and actions that you engage in again and again – regular rituals that you perform at the same time and/or in the same way. Traditions can be big or small, but they differ from routines and habits in that they are done with a specific purpose in mind and require thought and intentionality. Meg Cox, the author of The Book of New Family Traditions, defines family ritual as “any activity you purposefully repeat together as a family that includes heightened attentiveness and something extra that lifts it above the ordinary ruts.” Traditions, when done right, lend a certain magic, spirit, and texture to our everyday lives." Brett and Kate McKay

As we approach the wonderful holiday season my heart begins to journey  back to childhood memories and the family traditions that make those memories so perfect. I come from a large family filled with lots of cousins, tons of laughter, and of course many traditions. These traditions helped create a source of identity for me to my family. They tell the stories of our family's journey. Like how we celebrate Christmas Adam, the night before Christmas Eve, because my grandma has step children and it was just the most convenient time to all gather together. As the years have continued Christmas Adam is not just a suggestion, but an expected Christmas celebration. We all know on December 23 your are expected to be at Grandma's and your are expected to sit on Santa's lap. It is not a chore, but something that we all look forward to every year. It is something that I am so excited to share with my wonderful husband for the first time this year, and in the future I will share Christmas Adam with our children. 

Traditions also offer a sense of comfort and security.  I can remember waking up and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on my mom's bed while she got ready for the day, and in that moment there was nothing more that I wanted than to see Santa wrap up the parade.  As an adult I still insist on watching it, just now it is being watched from the kitchen instead of my momma's bed. The parade offers a since of childhood spirit and joy. The older we get the more the holidays become  a chore than a celebration. In the moments that the parade takes place it allows for my heart to fill with the Christmas Spirit, and gives me back that sense of comfort and security that I enjoyed on my momma's bed. It gives me the opportunity to slow down and recall what it is all truly about, and yes I still wait until the end so I can see Santa ride into Herald Square. 

Traditions create the unbreakable family bonds. Without traditions how would we create the lasting memories that you want to revisit every year. It allows you to feel that you are apart of something special, something that not everyone can experience. This year my sister in-love and I are baking pies together tonight, the Wednesday before thanksgiving. Though we will not be able to spend every Thanksgiving together, I have no doubt that this will become a new favorite tradition. This will create the lifelong memories that no one can take away from us. 

Growing up my brother would come and crawl in my bed on Christmas morning so that we could go see what Santa brought us. It was something I looked forward to every Christmas Eve, I loved hearing him open up my door and whisper "Brittany he came." Those mornings gave me some of my favorite brother and sister memories, that no one can take away. It allowed us to have a few moments just the two of us before the chaos of Christmas began. 

Now that Kaleb and I are happily married it is time to start creating our own family traditions without completely abandoning the ones we have. Here are some tips to keep in mind while many of you start your own traditions. 

• It should be something that helps to instill family values. 
• such as reading the Nativity Story every Christmas eve, or singing happy birthday to Jesus. 
• It should create excitement and suspense. 
• like opening up a new pair of pi's every Christmas eve. 
• You should make a point to do the same activity once a year, a tradition takes three years to become part of a routine. 
• Just be together. 
• Life gets busy and time passes on, make it a point to be together and enjoy the company.

I would love to hear what some of your family traditions are during the holidays, please leave them in the comments. 

XOXO,

B