Traditions are important to every family. They can be as simple or as extravagant as you want, but traditions help create memories that will last a lifetime.
The holidays are filled with traditions and when you start your own family, it can be hard to form your own. For example, as long as I can remember, we would wake up early on Christmas morning, open our presents, and rush around to get to my grandma's for breakfast at 8. I knew that wasn't something I wanted for my own little family. Even though we have had at least one child for three years, I'm still trying different ideas to form traditions that are fun and memorable.
Obviously traditions are not just based on the holidays, but that is when we make most of them. One of the things I started when Evan was born was to buy the kids new Christmas pajamas each year so that my pictures of them opening presents wouldn't include mismatched or raggedy pjs like the ones from when I was growing up. Another tradition that has stuck is having the kids crawl in bed with us on Saturday mornings. We tickle, laugh, watch a few minutes of cartoons, and talk about what we want to do that day.
Don't be intimidated to try something new. If your family enjoys it-that could be your new tradition. There is no wrong way to do this, you just don't want to overload your family with new ideas. Traditions can be as simple as ordering pizza and
playing games on Friday nights or as extravagant as wearing formal clothes to Christmas Eve dinner.
Its easy to let life get in the way of family time and that is why making traditions early is so crucial. If you start doing something early, chances are you will work your schedule around that Sunday afternoon dinner with grandma or Thursday night walk at the park. Your children will never forget those traditions that you stick to and will one day take some of those traditions with them to their own families.
By guest blogger TwoOfAKindWorkingOnAFullHouse
