Establishing Family Traditions

I grew up with stories of my grandparents flying around me from my father as well as older family members that had known them. It almost always felt as though I knew them in person because the family still practiced traditions that they had started even long after they were dead and gone. I could hear their voices join with ours each time we sang the family song. It made me feel special as though I belonged to a privileged inner circle.

My parents have also passed down their own traditions as well. My heart swells with nostalgia as I relive those special weekend outings we had together. Of course as an adventurous child, I enjoyed going to new places and experiencing new sights but I particularly treasure those moments with my parents when the world belonged to only us. Long after my parents are gone, those memories will still be imprinted upon my mind.

I know I also have a responsibility to hand down traditions to my own children. It is one that I will carry out willingly. I am determined to enjoy myself as much as my children in these activities that will constitute our family culture.

A family tradition is an activity that every member of the family gets involved with. It is a culture that projects a family's tastes in the arts and manners. It is an inherited pattern of thought or action. It is the exhibition of knowledge and values shared by the smallest unit of the larger society- the family unit.

Family traditions can be old or new;modern or quaint. They are usually those little seemingly insignficant things you do with your child such as reading her a bedtime story, reciting a quick prayer before he leaves for school in the morning, laying the table together just before a meal, or decorating the Christmas tree. What makes it a tradition is that it is an activity that is repeated again and again and gives comfort and a feeling of belonging to every one.

I especially think that we can create our own unique family traditions to suit our family needs. I also think it is a great way to inculcate long lasting values in our children. The icing on the cake is that passing down these traditions is a way of affecting generations yet unborn in a positive way and staying alive in the minds of those we love most even ages after our physical bodies may have undergone decay.