Throughout the year many holidays are celebrated. With each holiday, families have an opportunity to celebrate specific traditional holidays. Creating traditions helps individual family members define their identity. Traditions also help to draw families closer to one another.
Holiday Celebrations
Creating traditions is the best way to celebrate a holiday. Without holiday traditions, even widely celebrated holidays like the Christmas holiday and the Easter holiday, would be meaningless. It is the traditions that families, communities, regions, and nations hold that allow for meaningful experiences and joy during holidays. Without traditions, holidays are just like any other day of the year. Families fully enjoy holidays by creating traditions that will help to create memories and a sense of custom.
Evaluating Traditional Holidays
Most families celebrate several holiday traditions throughout the year for various holidays. Other families only celebrate traditional holidays that are popular. Many parents want to create holiday traditions that will help brighten holidays and bring their children and family together. Families can do this by first taking the time to evaluate their families' holiday traditions. Often, holiday traditions become outmoded as children get older and outgrow fun, yet childish, traditions. By deciding what customs and activities still work, or could work in the future, parents can encourage fun and meaningful holiday customs.
Creating Simple Family Traditions
Families have the unique opportunity to create holiday traditions that are both large and small. Not all traditions need to be elaborate. Simple things like a special meal or holiday outfit can create lasting memories. For example, many families receive a pair of new pajamas on Christmas eve and the new pajamas are then worn in preparation for Christmas morning. Other families have a simple meal of spooky foods for Halloween. By incorporating a few simple traditions, parents will save themselves time and help their families to have fun during the holiday.
Adjusting Outdated Holiday Celebrations
Parents can encourage past holiday traditions and celebrations by continuing them year after year. As children grow, family traditions will also need to be adjusted. Like families change, holiday traditions should change to fill the needs of children and adults alike. Older children and teenagers will appreciate holiday traditions that are modified to fit their needs. Similarly, new family customs for the holidays will need to be found as older children have families of their own.
Families can have memorable holidays by evaluating current traditions and creating new and simple holiday traditions. By adjusting outdated traditions and being consistent, families can customize holiday traditions to fit family needs.
Source:
Forever Families Website. Creating Meaningful Family Traditions (accessed November 13, 2009).
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