Starting Your Family's Holiday Traditions |
The holidays are a wonderful time when families come together from all corners of their lives. Take advantage of the fact that you are together by starting a new family tradition or start a tech tradition to bring distant family members closer. Any holiday tradition can bring a family closer and make the holidays a more fulfilling memory. The tradition gives a focal point for your memory of past holidays as each year seems to add to the tradition by bringing back memories of the previous years. The memories just snowball! As you bring your family closer together, you get a sense of anticipation that seems to defy the holiday let-down syndrome. When starting a tradition, make sure everyone agrees on the activity. It's no fun to look forward to something only to find out that no one else is. Here are some suggestions for traditions that could become an important part of your family's memories. (Other ideas can be found on the Customs Around the World pages.) |
Wrap the lid of a shirt box or any box with a telescoping lid so that it remains separate from the bottom of the box. Select a 'special' paper that is both distinctive and durable. This is the time to use that foil paper that can't be recycled. You could even use a light-weight fabric for you wrapping. Just make sure that the lid will fit after the box is wrapped. If you use a plain white gift box, you don't even need to wrap the bottom. I select a paper that I don't use for other family members' gifts. That way this is the only gift under the tree with the special paper. Now, for the tradition. Use this gift box for the 'roving' gift. The person that receives a gift in the special box, gives his or her gift in the box the following year to a different family member. Usually, everyone forgets who had the box last year and you have fun guessing who's giving it this year and who will get it. This works especially well when your family draws names for gift giving. You can even make notes of who's had the box and what gifts were given on the inside of the box. |
Try setting up a Secret Santa project this year to be implemented next holiday season. Draw names when you're all together this season. Next year, start your family connection in advance of getting together by sending notes, cards, poems, little gifts like a handmade ornament, or old family mementos to your selected family member. Begin the first week of December and send or give the anonymous gifts once or twice a week until your family gets together. Reveal your Secret Santa's at your holiday meal or after gifts are exchanged. You could even make it the last thing you do before everyone goes their separate ways. Just don't forget to draw names for next year. |
Most churches and senior centers provide meals for singles, seniors and homeless on Christmas. If you traditionally have a large Christmas dinner, try having your meal in the evening on Christmas Eve and spend Christmas cooking dinner as a family at your church or senior center. Little ones can help with setting tables, greeting guests, and any number of odd jobs. You can even set up your own program with the help of donations you solicit from local businesses. You'll get more from this kind of giving than just great family memories. |
If you don't have a camera with a self-timer, or even if you do, ask a neighbor to come over for coffee or Christmas breakfast and take a family portrait. A pajama portrait makes a really unique family photo. (Do a formal pose in PJ's but make sure everyone wears pajamas.) Try a funny face pose as well just to get everyone laughing. Get copies made and share them. Color photo copiers do a great job and are fast. Be sure to have an album of previous family portraits handy each season to relive the memories and share with your good Samaritan neighbor. |
Besides keeping your family portraits in an album, start a holiday scrapbook. Print up menus from holiday meals with pics of everyone helping. Don't forget to add a scrap of the 'special roving gift box' wrapping paper (first idea above), notes about special events you attended or the kids' school holiday program. Make sure everyone writes a note for the scrapbook each year. You can keep a copy of the words to favorite holiday songs like the 12 Days of Christmas that everyone always seems to forget from year to year. Whoever is hosting next year's holiday get-together gets custody of the book for the year. |
Create a hand-made ornament for the tree each year. Make it symbolic of some- thing special from the past year. You could make a mini sheepskin with a ribbon for someone who just graduated. How about a miniature car for the guy or gal who got their first car? Make a pacifier into an ornament for the new baby in the family or a mini kitchen utensil for someone who learned to cook. A blue ribbon for the prize-winning fair entrant or any number of special things you can think of. Keep all your memory ornaments together with a list of what they represent especially if the same person doesn't host your family holiday gatherings. That way you can always have your family tree where the family is. The first year you might want to have every family member make and bring a special ornament to get you started. Hang each new ornament Christmas eve or whenever Santa comes and make a game of finding it on the tree and have everyone try to figure out what it represents. Whoever wins gets out of holiday-dinner-dishes duty. |
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