Family traditions can be the same as, or similar to, traditions many other families share. They can also be traditions created uniquely within one's own, individual, family. Either way, family traditions are treasured, as well as easy to create. Regardless of the type of family tradition, these special activities are like small bits of glue that contribute to bringing families closer.

Traditions usually involve one the following: a holiday, event, and/or time; a particular set of people, and a particular activity. Sometimes a tradition involves a particular object. Family traditions can be big, elaborate, activities; or they can be small but special acts.

Some family traditions are created when families hear of other people's traditions, like the idea, and emulate it. Others are created accidentally, when it just turns out that the people involved seem to have done the same thing at the same time over a period of time. Then, too, still other traditions can be created intentionally, because someone (often a parent) thinks that creating a special tradition would be a nice thing to do.

For someone interested in building a tradition-rich family, the following ideas may be useful:

1. Pay attention to the traditions shared by other families. Dad's bringing the kids out to select a Christmas tree may not be the most original idea, but it is a tradition enjoyed by many fathers and their children. Other common, but nice, traditions are the late-Summer, family, trips to pick apples and the Autumn trips to farms, where selecting pumpkins and flowers can be an annual event. There's nothing wrong with borrowing the traditions of others. Besides, each family can always adapt borrowed traditions to their individual circumstances and personalities.

2. Think about those times when someone did something that just somehow made one or more members of the family feel as if something special had occurred. It doesn't matter how many people are involved. If Mom and one child went to lunch after dropping another child off at a dancing school holiday party, Mom can consider doing that each year with that one child. If the kids loved making a post-Trick-or-Treat visit to Aunt Susie's, so Aunt Susie could take pictures and give them candy apples, consider making that a tradition. (Of course, asking for Aunt Susie's input would be a good idea.) If one parent is the one who does something, like decorate for a holiday, this sole activity can be turned into a tradition if, after the decorating is done, the family is treated to hot popcorn or a freshly baked banana bread.

3. Think about ways to make special traditions out of routines that would otherwise not be special. If Mom and Dad get Grandma to babysit while they go to dinner on their anniversary each year, they can make it special by always ordering Chinese food for Grandma and the kids, getting the kids a particularly great movie, and leaving a certain bowl of fruit for a snack. If this is the one night a year when Grandma stays over having a special kind of breakfast together could help turn this annual event into a nice tradition for the kids and Grandma, as well as Mom and Dad.

Traditions can be big (such as a family's annual camping trip), or they can be small (such as Mom's bringing out the Spring dinner dishes, or Dad and the kids doing some snow removal and following it with a pizza supper). Regardless of how big or small they are, or how long it takes to do them, these activities will be among those memories that will be most cherished and most preserved.