(Obviously, the title of this blog post is being sung loudly because it's from Fiddler on the Roof. I didn't really need to explain that to you, did I?)
We place a huge emphasis on having happy family traditions in our church. I think that's great, and I love stuff like that, but I think-- like so many things-- it's much easier to talk about than to actually accomplish. How do you decide to start a tradition? Where do you get the idea for one? What if you try it and it sucks? What if you like it, but then the next time around, you've just had a baby and you're too darn exhausted to stick with the tradition?
Stuff like this happens all the time, I think.
And, worst yet, often times I hear about other family's traditions and I think-- Man, that's so cool! Why aren't we doing something amazing like that??? And then I worry about whether or not I'm allowed to copy other people's cool ideas. (I guess it must be okay, or else we wouldn't have Pinterest, right?) Usually that inner debate takes over until I forget what the cool thing was that I wanted to try.
So we don't have a lot of traditions here in the Smith household, but we do try.
At Christmas time, we've been trying something I saw on Mel's Kitchen Cafe: at the beginning of the month, she would wrap all their Christmas books up and put them under the tree, and then the kids would select one to unwrap each night and that would be their bedtime reading. So it was an advent calendar with books! I love that idea. We've done it the last couple years, but with mixed results. Like I said, I LOVE the idea, but it turns out that we're very busy all during the month of December. For several of those nights, Craig is out Christmas shopping with one kid, leaving me to manage bedtime for everyone else on my own. Guess what I forget to do every single time??? Or if we're out late for any of the many Christmas activities and rushing to get the kids to bed the second we get home? Yeah, all that fun extra stuff goes out the window. Ah, well. We still try.
Another thing I'm trying out is an idea that I saw on facebook that I really liked (Yes! I found a good idea! On facebook!!!). This was for large families and promised a way to make sure that each kid got some one-on-one time with Mom and Dad, something that I feel we struggle with. The idea is that each month, on the day of their birth, that child gets to stay up late with Mom and Dad and do what they want (well, for us, anything that doesn't involve a screen/electronics): read a book, play a game, have a dance party, just hang out and talk. The other kids can read in bed, but it's that kid's special evening. We did it last month and the kids LOVED it. I set reminders on my phone to go off every month so we don't forget. Here's hoping we can keep this one going!
And finally, perhaps the only tradition that is totally original to us, and that is probably my kids' favorite thing: our Valentine's Day feast! It's not nearly as cool as it sounds: basically, we light candles on the table and make whatever the kids want (EVERYTHING they want) for dinner. Right now, this means frozen pizza, chicken nuggets, macaroni & cheese, and French toast. So, yeah-- nothing you'd create a Pinterest page for. But the kids LOVE it. They get just as excited about this and anything we do. So that makes it really fun for Craig and me, too.
It all started two years ago, when Craig and my plans to go out for a Valentine's dinner got canceled because of a snow storm. That wouldn't have been a big deal, except I didn't really have any dinner back-up dinner plan. So we dug around in the freezer, found all our (highly processed) staples that kids love and made them all. (I think maybe we didn't have enough of any one thing so we just did a little of everything? Or maybe we just took everyone's suggestions, rather than picking one kid's favorite? I don't even know any more...) Anyway, the kids thought it was the best thing ever. And insisted we do it again the next year, and the next.
And thus a tradition was born!
Happy Valentine's!
Please tell me-- what traditions do you have that you love? What things have you tried that totally failed/didn't go how you wanted them to? I want to hear all about it!
3 comments:
For a good stretch we would have a chore contest each Saturday. Each chore would earn you a point and then we'd use our points to cast votes on what we'd do that afternoon and evening. It was so fun and got all the work done. We started making factions to do chores and throw our votes in together to do something fun that we knew the other team wouldn't vote for. Cutthroat chores. Somehow that reign of fun ended and I'm going back to yelling at everyone to vacuum and clean their rooms.
The traditions that start accidentally are typically the best. Growing up my Grandma sent us grapefruit in December. It was a huge box, so having grapefruit for Christmas was a given. Once we all left home we realized that grapefruit at Christmas had become a tradition. So now we all order our own grapefruit from Pittman and Davis (it must be from them) and the tradition continues.
When I was a kid, we tried to do a Nativity play at Christmas once. Our parents were hesitant, but us kids really wanted to, so they let us try. Totally fell flat. Turns out it's really hard to do that one with only 3 kids. And it's boring. And we all suck at acting.
And at Halloween we always intend to make honey popcorn. But the last time we actually remembered to was when Gareth was 3. Life is always just too hectic at that time of year. We have tons of traditions for Christmas, but not much else through the year.
We were in charge of our ward's Christmas party this year and found out that there is a sister who really just cannot handle things not happening the exact same way every single year. Like she has already complained to our new bishop that he's breaking too many important ward traditions (by doing crazy things like letting up plan the Christmas party and having it include a small service project and a white elephant gift exchange and allowing a talent show at the carnival party). I have come to the conclusion that for me personally, it's better to not aim for tradition so that I avoid the nervous breakdown when it doesn't work out. Just because we had tacos the first two years of our marriage for Christmas dinner doesn't mean we have to for the next 20 years. Going with the flow is a good tradition.
Also, I feel for the Valentine feast. We ordered pizza for our anniversary (15 Feb) and are still waiting for it to arrive. Good thing we had a frozen one on hand!
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