Traditions for Families

            I’ll start off by saying that I had a hard time deciding what to write about this week. In class we talked about culture and traditions. There are a lot of traditions that we have in our families. Some of the ones we have in my family is to try to eat dinner together every night, have a big family reunion each year, and get new pajamas every year for Christmas. Having these traditions has been a part of my life, well for my whole life.

            Traditions can help to shape an individual or a family. Some traditions are obviously much better than others. So, talking generally what are some good traditions that encourage families and individuals to be their very best? What are some that might need not be continued?

            Based off my own experiences, I love having a family reunion every year with all of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. It is a great way to catch up with everyone as we don’t get to see everyone very often. Being together with family I think is one of the best things that we can do to grow together and learn from each other. I like to talk to my grandpa when we have family reunions and hear his stories, or have him teach me how to catch brook trout out of the river next to where we are camping. Hearing him share his stories, or hearing my uncle share his experiences when he was my age has helped me to grow and those experiences only came from our tradition of having a reunion every year in the summer. So, I would say, have a tradition of getting together with your family every once in a while. This may by harder if you live far away from your family, but we live in a world of technology. Set up a time to call or to visit and use that to grow closer as a family. Families are important. I cannot stress that enough. They help us to grow and to learn as individuals.

            Some traditions however can be and are better left behind. You know what those traditions are. One in my life that is a tradition, well loosely a tradition, is eating dinner at 11:45 at night when I get home from work. Why is this one that should be discarded? It doesn’t help my wife and I as a family. Dinner should be about coming together and talking and catching up after the day. Eating dinner so late doesn’t do that for us. I’m tired after work and my wife is tired from staying up late to wait for me (but I’m really glad that she does stay up for me) and by the time the food is ready, we dish our plates and turn on a show to watch while we eat because we are both tired. Like I said before it is not a bad thing that we eat so late, but it is a “tradition” that could be left behind.

            Overall traditions can be a really good thing. They can help us come together as individuals and as families. Traditions really can make us who we are. They can set the tone for how we connect with our children when we become parents. I can’t wait to pass on the good traditions I have from my family to my children so that they can enjoy them as well.