Family Traditions

Think back to when you were a kid. Did your family have any traditions? Was there something that you did together predictably and regularly as a family? Something that you looked forward to eagerly or think back on fondly? What were your family traditions?

One of the traditions that my family observed was Friday night pizza and bad movies. My mom would cook up a few pizzas (pepperoni, olive, and mushrooms), and we'd watch whatever bad movie was showing. There was a series on the USA channel called "Up All Night" that would play terrible shows like Revenge of the Toxic Avenger and Nuke 'Em High. We'd camp out in the living room and eat pizza and watch bad TV until late into the night.

It wasn't something that we did to create a tradition, but it became one anyway.

When I first began thinking about family traditions, I didn't even consider Friday Night Pizza to be one. At the time, I thought that traditions required ceremonies and ritual, perhaps some robes and chanting or a speech. I had it in my head that there was a pattern to follow.

I've since come to think of it much more fluidly and I've found that it's actually really simple to start a family tradition. Maintaining a tradition is another matter, but starting one is pretty straight forward.

The simple definition that I've come to understand regarding family tradition is contained in the question I asked in the first paragraph: it's something that you do together predictably and regularly with your family.

Predictable
To be predictable, there has to be some kind of recurring schedule that your tradition follows. It could be nightly, weekly, monthly, yearly or any thing in between. Sticking with the schedule is important so that your family can plan around and look forward to the tradition. If everyone knows that Tuesday is board game night, then they'll know to check in before planning something over the top of it.

Following the schedule takes work and effort, but you should also stay flexible. As your kids grow up, they'll start getting engaged in other activities at school or on their sports team or at church and these will compete for the same time as your traditions. Make sure that you're balancing "the way it's always been" with trying new things.

Ideas
Talking theoretically about family traditions is great, but let's try actually putting some action to the talk. Below is a list of some of the traditions that have developed in my family:

1. Pizza and a Movie - Order in, carry out, or home bake a few pizzas and watch a new movie on Netflix or Amazon.
2. Men's Night - Take your son out for dinner or to watch trains drive by or planes take off.
3. Board Game or Poker Night - Careful with this one. Try to find a game that won't cause too much competition or hard feelings.
4. Opening Day - Baseball isn't for everyone, but it's hard not to get caught up in the crowds at opening day of baseball season.
5. Moonlight Walks - Tracking the full moon isn't too hard and walking around at night time and still being able to see your shadow is something that I still gives me a thrill.
6. Service Day - Pick one day every month to dedicate to helping someone close to you. Mow a neighbor's lawn or rake their leaves. Do something together for someone else.
7. Bedtime Prayers - Your particular faith tradition will guide the way you implement this tradition. We each take turns being thankful for something that happened that day. Sometimes we have to dig deep, but there's always something to be thankful for.

The Art of Manliness has done quite a few write-ups on family traditions and has even compiled a list of more than 60 ideas for family traditions to help spark ideas.

Sources

• Art of Manliness