I had a few unusual family traditions growing up.
It was a family tradition that my mum worked on Christmas day. And now that I’m 31, she still works Christmas day.
My brother and I used to race against each other to “pinch, punch, first of the month”.
Our family vacations consisted of going to my nan’s house in the country a few times a year. Sure we had big family holidays. But they were never overseas. And they were only every four or so years.
Creating family traditions
But now that I am a parent, I have an idea of the kind of things I want my daughter to experience and the traditions that I want to introduce. I think it’s important to create some new family traditions. Who knows, I might introduce my daughter to “pinch, punch, first of the month”.
Visit the snow
It doesn’t snow where I live. We have to travel around three hours to see the snow. It’s close enough that it can be a day trip but we also like to go somewhere for a few days. We are yet to stay where it actually snows.
Family BBQs
The house we live in now has a pool so whenever we invite people over during the summer they almost always say yes.
Girls nights
While these aren’t really a family tradition they are a very regular occurrence in my life right now. And while I’m out having some me time with my friends, my daughter gets one on one time with her dad. It’s a great mental health break for me and a great chance for them to spend some quality time.
Visiting grandparents
Before I started school I remember visiting my grandparents on the same day every week. And while the days of the week have varied over the years, it’s been a pretty regular thing. More so as they have become older and I’ve been able to drive to their house myself. I spent a lot of time with my grandma before she died in 2009 and even more time with my grandpa before he died in 2018. Now my daughter currently sees her grandparents (my parents) twice a week. Any less and I think my mum would tell me off!
Eat as a family
It sounds lame to some people but we always ate dinner at the table as a family. Even if one person was still at work or out somewhere. The only times we sat elsewhere was when we had a takeaway. Ever since my husband I moved into our own house we have always eaten at the table. Occasionally we’d eat takeaway or something shared at the kitchen bench. And now I eat most meals with my daughter. We have breakfast at the kitchen bench, often have lunch at her little table in the lounge room, then dinner at the dining table.
Ideas are open for discussion
My parents were always pretty open with me. I seemed to know more about puberty than my friends at school and it was ok for me to ask questions about euthanasia, abortion and religion. I definitely want my daughter to know that we can have open discussions about anything.
Do you have any fun family traditions you want to pass on to your children? Or are you looking at creating family traditions for your own family?
