Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Family Traditions

Our family runs on schedules and lists. Our refrigerator is covered with checklists, time schedules, memos, and calendars. We have six people here with six different schedules, all trying to live in harmony. We come together at dinner every night to talk and laugh. We play and pray together. We are busy and rushed, but we've come up with certain routines, or traditions, to make sure that life doesn't push us around. Here are just a few of the 'family traditions' we have developed to keep our priorities straight.

1. Special day of the month: Each person in this family has a special day of the month. It's "MY DAY!" This occurs on each family member's birth date. Madie's day is the 4th, Macy the 8th, Tim the 14th, Emma the 17th, Drew the 20th, and mine is the 31st. (Today actually IS My Day!) This tradition is really all about the kids. I was an only child and had my parents' full attention. I want my children to cherish the fact that they are each one of four, not regret it. So in order to make sure each child has his/her own special time, we started MY DAY. Special benefits of MY DAY include picking the meals of the day and helping mom cook the dinner they picked. If we are out and about, he/she picks the restaurant. This child also gets to say prayer at dinner. The big bonus of the day is that he/she gets to stay up 20 minutes past bedtime to hang out with mom and dad, and pick the activity. Typically they pick playing a game, reading a book, watching a show, or playing the Wii with a parent. The activity almost always includes cuddling with mom or dad. I know the kids look forward to their day each month, they are the family celebrity of the day.

2. 'Screen-free' Wednesday. This concept wasn't originally loved much by either the family or my friends, but it has been the best family tradition so far! Each Wednesday we fore-go all television and computer. For Drew and Macy, that's giving up their cartoons. For Madie and Emma, it's going without the Wii. Tim grumbles a bit each evening when he sits down at the end of the day to relax and can't watch TV. Hands down, I miss the computer the most. I can't check my emails, look something up, or socialize on Facebook! I don't think my friends like 'Screen-Free Wednesday' much either. Since most everyone relies on the Internet to stay in touch these days, I'm completely out of the loop on Wednesdays. It's a 'Leave a message until Thursday' situation. BUT, Wednesday is the most productive and family-focused day of the week! I actually finish my to-do list on Wednesdays! I get extra cleaning done, get caught up on the laundry, spend more time training the dogs, and more time playing with my kids and interacting with the family. After dinner on Wednesday, we often play a family game or have family 'Show-and-tell'. It did take a while for the kids to adjust, but now the two oldest come home on Wednesdays and run off to their room to play. They don't even mention the TV or computer. Drew and Macy use their imaginations and play together all day and bring me extra books to read to them. Tim and I have the longest conversation of the week on a Wednesday evening after the kids have gone to bed. I love this day for the fact that, to a point, we've shut out the rest of the world and it's just us. We don't have a TV program coming on or an email to respond to, we just have each other.

3. Our newest family tradition is the Word of the week and Bible verse of the week. We have a white dry-erase board on our refrigerator. Each Sunday we pick out a word that we will add to our vocabulary. This word is to be used daily. Madie and Emma will also learn the definition and how to spell the word. Drew and Macy just need to be able to pronounce it. (Hopefully they'll add it to their vocabulary too) We also pick out a Bible verse to memorize. I help Drew with a shortened version. Obviously the goal of the word and verse is educational, but also to reinforce our values. God is number one in our lives, and we place great importance on education.

Family traditions can be old or new. They are the routines and beliefs of each family. They make a family unique, and are what the children will take into their own families someday, even if only a piece of it.
I'd love to hear some of your family routines/traditions!

1 comment:

  1. Dawn, it's so obvious you love parenting enough to put lots of thought, consideration, prayer and love into it. I also stayed home with my 2 sons until my youngest was just a few months away from his high school graduation. We had some traditions, but my favorite was when we traveled we had one day that we ate ice cream for lunch. Or, in the case of the time we spent in Disneyland, TWO days of ice cream for lunch. (Note: I tried making green mashed potatoes for St. Patrick's Day a tradition, but was vetoed on the very first try!)

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