30 Traditions We Want to Form
Random Observation/Comment #718: Let’s slow down time together.
Why this List?
Off of the previous post on Wills, Trusts, and Digital legacies, I was thinking about which traditions we want Evie to try out while she’s growing up. We got around 5 years to experiment with a few fun activities. For example, some families love the super bowl and will plan a game around it – I don’t think we’re one of those families (unless it’s just to watch the Puppy bowl…).
I’ve written this list by referencing some of the major holidays and then thinking about things on a weekly basis. Some of these might be rituals? What’s the difference between a tradition and a ritual? No matter – it was a fun exercise.
Thanksgiving / Cooking for Thanksgiving – Travel not withstanding, I think it’s hard to pick travels to just spend a few days in NY or Florida. I imagine we’ll open our homes to our parents to visit or do a Friends-giving event. We’d play this by ear. Not only should we be with family, but I want Evie to wake up to loud people cooking and having a good time. I spent most of my Thanksgivings in Pennsylvania and I loved smelling those mashed potatoes and gravy.
Christmas – It’s probably a whole week of get-togethers. Maybe this will be a traditional trip to NY in order to have a large family gathering. I suspect there will be some type of travel in December regardless.
Christmas morning and surprise presents – I think we only exchanged presents after elementary school started, but I was pretty happy with just good food.
Putting together and decorating the Christmas tree – I do remember the fake silver tree we had growing up that shed more and more every year. We had to poke the branches into the silver spray painted stick. It’s much easier now, but tree decoration is a great tradition.
July 4th BBQ – I guess it doesn’t need to specifically be July 4th, but BBQs and other potluck traditions with neighbors are such a great tradition. I want her to love playing outside and appreciate that smoky smell.
Mother’s day – Buying flowers and cooking meals. I’m pretty sure I do this normally, so we’ll figure out a special Mother’s day tradition (like leaving Mom alone for the whole day).
Cinco de Mayo – Tacos and margaritas! I’d take any excuse for a little party.
Chinese New Year – Red envelopes and cleaning. I do like the idea of sleeping with the good luck red envelopes under my pillow.
Oktoberfest party – I totally need to buy some lederhosen so it’s a family affair.
Halloween dress up and decorations – It would be awesome to have a yearly daddy-daughter costume. I have a list of 30 costume ideas, so it’s just planning these out. Maybe I’ll do 2 or 3 a year so I can do all of these.
Easter painting and hiding eggs – I didn’t do this growing up, but I love the activity.
Fall Harvest Festival – Apple picking, apple pies, pumpkin picking, cider, and hay rides seem like a great routine
Yearly Ski trip – I hope to go more when she gets better at skiing, but a yearly trip makes sense to me for some snow activities.
Building a snowman or snow fortress – This is more for me being a little kid, but I think have a snowman or snow-creature building tradition could be a lot of fun.
Yearly road trip through a national park – I would love to visit a different national park every year as a natural visit. Camping not really needed during this time, but these National Parks won’t be around forever…
Camping/hiking trip – Building a fire, making some outdoor meals, and relaxing outside. Maybe just a backyard camping/glamping experience.
Dance party throughout the day – We like to pick random times for a dance party. Sometimes it’s a song and sometimes we just like being silly.
Fishing – I don’t know anything about fresh water fishing, but it’s something I could pick up if I get bored. Maybe we’ll just do some salt water fishing when we visit NY.
Beach day – We’re not near any beaches right now, but we can plan trips to beachy places. Yearly trip to a Caribbean island?
Monthly congee/jook – Nothing like a jook to feed me for a week. Personally love making it with smoked turkey legs. I feel like this is always a solid family meal, but I’m the only one that eats it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Visit NY for dim sum – I doubt Evie would eat anything at dim sum, but I want her growing up knowing this experience.
Buy a fairy accessory when we visit the garden scene – Looking forward to growing a fairy garden even further. It’s like Barbies for adults.
Star gazing – I do this whenever I get the chance on a trip. We’d make a mission to just drive somewhere dark and watch the stars.
Cooking at home – I love it when Evie takes interest in what I’m making and helps me stir/mix things. I can’t wait for her to be able to help me prep and get into making different meals with me. So far pancake cooking has been nice and easy.
Dumpling making traditions – We can make this a group activity with the neighborhood along with those other potluck things. I don’t mind having multiple things on this list related to food.
Recurring Family dinners – This is always a little hard to schedule, but having dinner at the dinner table together is something I want to form as a repeated habit. This was the one thing we did together when we were growing up at home.
Game night / No screen time – Having a recurring non-tech game night to just connect with family seems like a great idea to implement. I don’t think we’d go as far as a Shabbat from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday, but the same idea is in place to take a break and spend time with family.
Spontaneous time – Allocating time to be spontaneous may not be spontaneous from a meta perspective, but at least it’s a planned time to try new things and implement new activities.
Daddy-daughter cave – However long I can do this for, I will keep doing. I really like just building a pillow fort and hanging out with Evie sharing stories.
Special cheers – We have already taught this to Evie and it’s super cute. Cheers.
~See Lemons Form Traditions
—
Originally posted on seelemons.com