Day 8: Start a New Family Tradition

Sorry, I'm so late in posting today.  We had to go to the farmer's market and play in the fountains and have a cookout.  You know, the usual.  And my best laid plans went awry.  I had a great blog post complete with a project and pictures, and now the pictures won't upload, so we'll save that for another day.

Let's talk about family traditions.  It's difficult to write one post about something that usual develops over long periods of time.  Traditions are traditions because you traditionally do them in a traditional way.  That's the best sentence I've ever written.

On my 30 day quest towards a more elegant life, I believe that forging strong family connections is important.  After all, why make a home elegant and comfortable if the relationships in that home aren't a priority.  Instead of telling you about our family traditions- which, quite frankly would be a short list because we've only been married for 4 years and we have small children.  That's not to say that we can't start traditions now.  Here is a list of ideas to get you started in building family traditions in your elegant home.

1.  On the first day of school, take pictures and keep them in an album so you can look back at the kids growth through their school years.
2.  Make Christmas ornaments together as a family.
3.  Read "Twas' the Night Before Christmas" on Christmas Eve.
4.  Have a special designated plate for the birthday boy or girl to use on his or her birthday.
5.  Cook green eggs and ham on St. Patrick's Day.
6.  Read the Declaration of Independence (or portions thereof) on July 4th.
7.  Get ice cream for a good report card or conference
8.  Serve together in a homeless shelter on Thanksgiving.
9.  On birthdays pull out the kids' baby books and talk about what they were like as babies.
10.  Take family vacations (even small ones).  Designate one child to take pictures on the trip and then let the kids create a scrapbook after the vacation.
11.  Try a new restaurant on your anniversaries
12.  Have weekly family game nights and Bible studies

This list is just a way to jumpstart you thinking about how to implement family traditions with your spouse and/or kids.  If you don't have a spouse or kids, who's to say that you can't have your own traditions?  Remember, close knit families don't happen by accident.  An elegant life is one that is enriched by the people around us.

I would love to hear what family traditions you have!