Nov 10 2008
New Family Holiday Traditions
If you try to think up a list of holiday traditions, you can come up with quite a few that a large part of America adheres to such as Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and all the trimmings. A Christmas tree and leaving out cookies for Santa, giving an extra special Christmas gift or reading the Christmas Story on Christmas Eve. But, wouldn’t it be nice to have other holiday traditions that are unique just to your family (remembering a family isn’t always a bloodline).
Volunteering
Wouldn’t it be great if it was just a give (holiday tradition) that the whole family spent part of Christmas Eve preparing and serving dinner at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter. If that’s not possible, what about if it was part of your holiday shopping every year for everyone to pick a name and get a gift for a child from one of those mall Christmas trees. Or even collecting imperishable food items and delivering them to food pantries that distribute food baskets for the holidays.
Maybe your family already has the tradition of singing Christmas carols in the neighborhood. What if you gathered several families together and called a nursing home or retirement home for a time to come and sing to them. Perhaps you could bring candy canes to handout at the same time. This could even be done at a regular hospital, bring gifts for the patients in the children’s ward.
New Recipes
If you’ve found a great recipe, no matter what it is, add it to your holiday meal(s). It could be something totally whacky. So what, it would make your holidays stand out and your children will always associate that particular food with the special meal every year. Furthermore, they will take this special food into their own homes as they grow up and start their own families. What a great Christmas gift to give to their future.
And, it doesn’t have to be a whacky dish. It could be something traditional to others that you have not done before like making gingerbread or sugar cookies with cookie cutters and decorating them. Or taking a plate of homemade goodies to your neighbors.
Photos
The family could get a portrait (photo) done each year. Then besides putting it in a frame for viewing, put a small one of the photos in an ornament frame. Each year you will hang all the previous photos as well as the current one on the tree. If doing this is not in your budget, try taking simple digital photos of each family member and putting them in ornament frames for the Christmas tree.
Family Holiday Traditions
Do you have any ideas for new holiday traditions? Or do you already do something special and out of the ordinary. I’d love to hear what they are.
