In our family, we struggle with finding the right balance of holiday celebration and traditions that come only 1 time a year and, thus, create a lot of hoopla. On the one hand, we have at least 1 family member who just detests the hoopla that comes with celebrations and holidays. And, of course, there is at least 1 family member who craves, desires, and seeks after the hoopla of celebrations and holidays. Thus, this is an area of extreme compromise for us.
We do have some simple family traditions that are carried out on a more regular basis. When it happens weekly, or monthly, it’s just apart of life, so it’s not hoopla.
Every Friday night, or Saturday if Friday just doesn’t work, I make a pizza and we eat the pizza while watching a movie.
We started this when Little Man was 3 or 4, so it’s been going for several years now. I remember listening to a podcast where the topic was creating a family culture with books, and one speaker talked about how movies also create this shared family culture. And we’ve seen this happen. As we have watched these movies together, later on when one person quotes a line, or even a few words from a line, everyone else knows what that person is referencing.
We are growing this family culture with books, also. We recently finished “Where the Red Fern Grows” and wept together as Old Dan and Little Ann died. We enjoyed “Invasion of the Overworld”, a minecraft book, together. It was a good story, had some good qualities, and it drew all of us in. Even as we read the same board book over and over again to Mr Wigglesworth, we grow this family culture.
And, if I work at it, slowly, maybe we can develop some family culture around these 1 time a year celebrations that everyone can be at least somewhat happy with.
