Family Traditions

Lately I have been thinking about how fast my kids are growing up and how Mister is now at such a fun age to do so many things with and actually understand and participate in family events. That's really gotten me to thinking about family traditions and what types of family traditions I want to start for my family. I think having lots of family traditions makes for a fun childhood. There is always something to look forward too. I love talking to my friends who have older children and hearing about all the fun things they do with their families. I find myself wanting to sit down with all of them and take notes so Scott and I can pick and choose our favorites to implement into our own little family.

I thought I'd share a few of my favorite family traditions from my own childhood and I want to know about your favorite family traditions too. So please, comment away! :)

1) Every Easter when I was younger I'd wake up to a note by my bed giving me directions on where to go to find my next clue that would eventually lead me to my Easter basket. It was so fun going through 8 or so different notes and finally ending up at the spot my lovely Easter basket was hiding. Mind you, our house was small in those days so it was a minor miracle that my parents found enough hiding places for the notes and the baskets without ever having us accidentally come across our basket and ruin the surprise early. And my mom always tailored the baskets to our individual tastes - for me it was lots of chocolate/peanut butter and chocolate/carmel eggs, never ever any yucky Peeps. :) Mom still makes great Easter baskets, they're just a more grown-up version now.

2) My bedtime routine was always the same when I was little. Mom would come in and say the same comforting prayer every evening: "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. There are four corners on this bed, there are four angels at its head. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, bless this bed that I lay on." She'd tuck me in and tell me "God love you and bless you forever." It's so touching to hear her say those same words and murmur the same prayers to her grandsons.

3) Every year we'd go to Christmas Tea at the Ritz in San Francisco. We'd get dressed up and enjoy the high tea, all the beautiful Christmas decorations and the sounds of the live harpist they always had.

4) I loved spending nearly every Thanksgiving with my Dad, either in Rhode Island or in Kansas. He always did the most wonderful Thanksgiving complete with my favorite oyster stuffing. I know that sounds gross to most people, but my dad and I love it.
5) I loved having fun, chaotic (and sometimes rowdy) Christmas Eve celebrations with my mom's side of the family. She is one of 8 children and nearly everyone (aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents) would gather at our house and  we'd enjoy both the traditional Christmas foods, and also, if we were lucky, some authentic Mexican food that Grandma had made from scratch. Her tamales are famous in the family and it wasn't Christmas without those tamales accompanying the rest of the food.

6) When we were younger and Mom was trying to teach us the importance of Christmas, she would emphasize that it was Jesus' birthday and we were celebrating his birth, his life and everything he gave for us. Often times we would make a birthday cake for Him and even sing "Happy Birthday". Apparently when I was little I didn't understand why Jesus never came to his birthday parties we threw for him. :)

7) Every Saturday morning when I was in high school my parents would rush out the door early to try to make it to the farmer's market in time to get the smoked salmon bellyfins from one particular vendor. They were extremely popular so if they weren't there right when it opened we were out of luck. They would bring home fresh, warm Noah's bagels, fresh apple cider (from another famer's market vendor) and the bellyfins if they were lucky or regular lox if they were too late. Not that I minded, because I absolutely LOVE lox, but ay papaito (to quote my dad), those bellyfins were something special!

There are many more, but these are the ones that came to me off the top of my head (coincidence that most of them revolve around food? I think not).  :)  I'd really love to hear about your favorite family tradition, either from your childhood or that you do with your own kids now. I'm really eager to make my own kids' childhoods as charmed as my own was with traditions that they will cherish and hopefully pass on to their own children someday.