Why traditions are important

Family Christmas traditions; simple, ordinary, wondrous.

You never know where life will take you. It's all so unpredictable isn't it. That's the point of course, it would be a dull life if we all knew what was around every corner. But sometimes a bit of predictability is good. It''s reassuring and comforting. I think having family traditions are a perfect way to provide that predictability and comfort.

We have a few traditions in our family such as Friday night Movie Night.We choose a movie together, and if we are all still speaking by the end of that process we make pizza and eat together in the lounge, on the sofa Miss A and Miss B have named Carl, while watching said movie. Like all sofas, Carl has a few primo seats and a few less desirable ones. Getting one of the sweet seats is always a potential issue, and anyone who gets up during the movie runs the risk of losing their seat, usually to the dog.

Another tradition is being allowed to choose anything you like for breakfast on your birthday. No lectures, no gasps of shock, no recriminations. This year was McDonald's pancakes, last year was ice cream sundaes. One year Miss A wanted a toffee pop sandwich, but fortunately changed her mind before the big day, that would have been a hard one to swallow for me, if not for her (pun intended).

Then of course there are our Christmas traditions. We only have a few at the moment. We decorate the tree together, we open a present on Christmas eve when we get back from mass, we leave cookies and milk out for Santa, and carrots for the reindeer, and we eat breakfast at my brother's home. We used to take the children to the Smith and Caughey's department store Santa's grotto to see the puppetry and have a photo with Santa, this year they both refused to go. Apparently sitting on Santa's knee is creepy. "He sees you when you're sleeping Mum" says Miss B, "he knows when you're awake, he knows when you're been bad or good, he's a stalker". Oh dear, my stranger danger education seems to have been too effective. I'm still insisting we go see the store's amazing window display. Each year they choose a children's book and recreate the story with puppets.It is well worth the trip, (especially when coupled with Franklin road, read on for that).

Since Mum's death, I've been thinking we could do with a few more traditions to fill the void and to ensure we are all together at Christmas. That's the beautiful thing about traditions, they're things that everyone knows are done in a certain way, at a certain time, no excuses. I think traditions help create a strong family bond, a bond that helps us through life. Traditions are the glue that can hold it all together when it would otherwise be easy to drift away from each other, sometimes without even noticing.

So I've been thinking and searching for some new traditions to add from this year forth. I've never made a Christmas pudding, Mum always did that. So now that we have all her baking things, including her pudding steamer, I thought it would be great to make a family tradition of all the family making the Christmas pudding together. The multiple ingredients to measure and mix seem perfect for kids to join in with. Then into Grandma's pudding steamer and onto the stove. A great way to honour Mum and keep her in the kids memories as well.

The Franklin Road lights is another tradition I know many families do. Franklin Road is an inner city street where the occupants go all out decorating their homes with Christmas lights. I've been once with the kids, when they were small, but I think its time to make an annual visit mandatory. How can anyone come away from so much Christmas glory without feeling happy and Christmas-y?

Don't be fooled into thinking that traditions make everything peaceful and fun. Sometimes they don't, they can be hard, there may be fighting, but stick to your guns and make sure they know resistance is futile. At the very least your kids may learn some conflict resolution skills!

However there are a few traditions I've come across that we won't be taking up. There is a German tradition of putting out a shoe on Dec 5th, if you are a good child it is filled with lollies and candy, if you are not, it is filled with sticks for your parents to beat you with. Hmm, tempting but no, that one won't be making the cut.

Do you have any family traditions at Christmas, or any other time of the year? I would love to hear about them. Please leave a comment below.

Have a very Merry Christmas (and if you don't celebrate Christmas, have a wonderful holiday break).

As always, have a great week.

Grace

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