Tip #18: Intentionally Create Traditions

This Christmas, I have been thinking quite a bit about traditions. I have always been a big believer in traditions. In my opinion, they can help create a sense of belonging and strengthen family bonds. Along these lines, I like to ask people about their family traditions. Occasionally, we have adopted a tradition that sounded fun and incorporated it into our own family.  

I think a misconception about traditions is that they will naturally happen. However, while some traditions may start unintentionally, they are kept alive by intention. Creating and maintaining traditions will take some work, but I think as your family grows and matures, you will be glad you were intentional in this way.

We have several Christmas traditions. Some that have stood the test of time (at least to date) are: 

• 
  Watching The Very First Noel on Christmas Eve with hot cocoa (a GREAT Christmas movie you can find here: https://watchthethreewisemen.com/. The copy I have is called The Very First Noel, but at some point it was rebranded as The Three Wisemen)
• Reading the Christmas story from Luke on Christmas Eve
• Spending a few days in a cabin at a tree farm
• Eating birthday cake for breakfast (to remember the birth of Jesus)
• Enjoying a slow Christmas morning: we wake up, enjoy breakfast (cake), and start opening gifts around 9 or 10a
• Making pizza from scratch on Christmas Eve
• Have Malay Curry for Christmas Dinner when our whole family gets together

Over the years, a few traditions have not made the cut. Give yourself grace for things you try that don't work or even things that stop working as the years go by. For example, we bought a special ornament every Christmas when we were first married. There were a few years that I forgot to get an ornament. At first, I was disappointed and a little annoyed. However, I decided to let it go. While it was a lovely tradition, for whatever reason, it felt more like a chore than a joy. 

There is nothing wrong with not having traditions, but they can be a really fun part of married and family life. If you don't have (m)any traditions, this Christmas is a great time to consider starting some! You can adopt some of ours or make your own. 

If you already have family traditions, I'd love for you to share them here!