Call me an old soul but I LOVE family traditions!
I am not talking about the staged Instagram kind, or the living rooms full of toys, I am talking about true family traditions. The kind you talk about 40 years later, the ones that make you laugh until you’re blue in the face, and cry because you miss them so much. The kind of tradition passed on from generation to generation that whether your 5 or 55, they make you smile.
These next two months are the one-two punch of pressure on us as mothers to create the perfect holiday season for our families. I feel like in today’s world the good ol’ family traditions are getting lost in the dust of the idea that you must create and foster joy as opposed to just letting family traditions ride on their own.
For me, tradition is washing dishes at the Crawford AuSable Thanksgiving Dinner with my dad, then spending the weekend cutting wood and stacking it for the winter up north, with my entire family. Do you think a bunch of us chopping wood and getting berated for stacking it incorrectly makes for a good Instagram picture? Probably not. Did I always like it? Nope. Do I love the togetherness and the laughs we have? ABSOLUTELY! I love the stories of “if Grandpa was still here he’d make you re-stack that entire pile”. And frankly, I am beyond excited that my little man is finally old enough to join in the festivities this year.
Let’s acknowledge there is always competition with other families to make Thanksgiving and Christmas the absolute–very-best-straight-out-of Better-Homes & Gardens holiday house of happiness. Sharing handmade turkeys covered in glitter glue, or your perfectly decorated tree on social media – that is not what I believe the holidays are about!
This is tradition: It required no Pinterest tips, purchasing of extravagant gifts, staying up all night trying to find the most creative spot for that darn elf, or worrying about what the family down the street is doing. It’s something with your parents {or family} that I hope someday my children will do with me, and eventually with their own kids.
Break out that game of Uno, sit back and stir up some hot chocolate with the little ones, enjoy some sugar cookies and Christmas movies. Grab the kids and head outside for some good old fashioned family fun! It may not be something to brag about or look very pretty on social media but it will be what your kids remember and something they’ll talk about for years to come. Much like Grandpa’s waffles on Christmas morning – that’s the good stuff!
Do you have a favorite holiday tradition or an activity you want to pass on to your kids? Share it below!
