By Camille Brooks
To Experience More Joy In Our Families
Our families bring us our greatest joy in this life. If we do not make time for our families and create meaningful experiences with them, there will always be a lack of peace and joy in our lives.
Traditions have brought great joy into my family at every age and stage of life. Traditions strengthen family ties and they are just downright fun! They give us a reason to gather as a family, and spend quality time and have quality conversations.
We live in a busy world with so many different things pulling for our attention. We need to make time for our families, otherwise the world will take all our time, and our family relationships will be neglected.
Our children need our time more than they need anything else in this world! And we need them! When we die, everything stays here on this earth—our careers, our homes, and all our possessions. The only things we can take with us are who we have become, our families, and the memories we have created together.
I have found that you never find time for things that are important—you have to make time. When you plan family traditions, it gives you a reason to get together and puts a date on the calendar. Traditions bring families together.
To Create Memories
Memories are so important. They linger and warm our hearts. They can bring us comfort in times of adversity and depression. They help us keep an eternal perspective, reminding us what is most important: our families. They help us remember the good times, and fill us with hope that things will get better—and that maybe things are not as bad as we think. Traditions create wonderful memories for your family.
I cherish the memories we have created through family traditions. One of our favorite traditions is what we call the “Year in Review.” My daughter takes pictures and videos of all our traditions and family activities. She then edits the previous year into a show. She puts the pictures and videos to music she has carefully chosen, that expresses the joy we felt at that activity.
Watching the “Year in Review” is the highlight tradition of our year. The younger children sell tickets, popcorn and candy, and then we all squeeze in front of the TV and stream it, so all can see. The children love seeing themselves, siblings, parents and cousins in a movie! They want to watch it over and over again. It is their favorite show.
This tradition of the “Year in Review” preserves the memories of our special times as a family. As we watch this show we are filled with so much joy and feelings of love for each other. The memories themselves bind us closer as a family.
To Bring Them Back Home
Someday our children will leave the nest. If we have created strong family traditions they will want to come home to be apart of those traditions. Traditions create a tether that helps pull them home again. Traditions also create anticipation which can be a very powerful motivator. You’ll find your children asking with excitement, “Are we going to . . . ?” as they anticipate the upcoming traditions. The children have just as much fun in planning the next activity as attending it.
Birthdays
Birthdays can be very special traditions. When birthdays are not remembered it can cause hurt feelings in relationships. It is important to remember our loved ones on their special day and find ways to bring them joy. I would let the children plan their favorite breakfast and dinner, and then that is what I would cook. We decorated the kitchen with balloons ( I now use Lanterns that I can reuse) and crepe paper and birthday signs. I also got their life history box out and would display all their treasures and pictures from their childhood.
A life history box has old baby clothes, baby book, school work, toys, stuffed animals, books and collections and treasures that were special to them. This was an extra special tradition that helped us laugh, remember good times, and rejoice in our beloved child. What birthday traditions can you create with your family?
One-on-Ones
I personally think one-on-one traditions are just as important as family traditions in creating joy. Each member of our family needs to feel they are special as an individual. Birthdays can be a great time to take family members out to lunch and do one-on-one activities at any age. However, it is important to find other times to have one-on-ones with children.
Creating daily traditions with children is vital to their personal development, such as reading stories and singing lullabies before they go to sleep, or visit with an older child as you tuck them in bed. These kinds of traditions have brought me so much joy!
One of my favorite traditions was playing with my children after school. Before they started their homework, they had to have a snack and play with me. We might sit in the fort and peel oranges while I listened as they told me all about their day, then we would slide down the slide, swing on the swings and roll down the hills. When it was winter we might build snowmen, go sledding, build a fort, or sip hot chocolate and make cookies.
Wow! I cannot even begin to tell you how much joy it brought into my life, and still brings into my life. All those wonderful memories of playing with my children will always warm my soul. What one-on-one traditions can you create with your children?
Family Dinners
Family dinner is a tradition that brings the family together, and promotes good health physically and emotionally. If families do not make time to eat together regularly their family relationships may suffer.
Eating dinner together helps families connect. I tell my children the only reason I am willing to cook is so that we can talk around the table! I don’t want people straggling in at different times. This might mean bringing snacks to their sport events and eating a crockpot meal when you get home. I love to make extras and have leftovers on a busy day. A big pot of soup can last for days. What changes could you make, so that your family can eat together more often?
Family Nights
We had a tradition that every Monday night was family night. We all stayed home and spent time as a family. After dinner we would have a little lesson and teach our children about the gospel of Jesus Christ, good values, or principles that would help them become good people and good citizens. Then we would play as a whole family, and end with a yummy treat.
When our children were young they loved to play simple games like hide and seek and red light green light. It didn’t matter what the game was; all that mattered was that we were playing together as a family. They loved family night. As they got older we played basketball in the driveway, baseball, kickball, and night games. Could you make a family night, or a family time, part of your weekly traditions?
Grown-Ups Only
It is a fun tradition to get together with siblings and parents once in a while (or once a year). Have adult nights with your extended family where just the adults go out together. Go to dinner, a play, concert, or go to someone’s home and play games. Enjoy being together as just adults.
Holiday Traditions
Every month of the year has a holiday, which makes it easy to plan something fun around, and gives you a reason to get together as a family. Here are some of our holiday traditions. This is to help you get started and set goals for this year.
January
- New Year’s Eve party Lots of games 12pm-12am
- Blow up the Ginger Bread Houses and fireworks
February
- Valentine Heart Breakfast
- Valentines—Write love letters to spouse and children
- Valentine Dinner
March
- St. Patrick’s Day
- Kite Flying
- Green Meal
April
- Easter Egg Hunt
- Easter Dinner
May
- Memorial Day Picnic
- Cucumber Boat Races
- Milk Jug Shooting
June
- Family Campout
July
- Fourth of July Barbecue
- Water Game Days
- Fireworks
August
- Family Vacation
September
- Labor Day Picnic
October
- Family Halloween Dress-up Party
- Games
- Halloween Dinner
- Trick-or-Treat
November
- Thanksgiving Dinner
- Games
- Premier of the “Year in Review”
December
- Children’s Christmas Party
- Christmas Eve Dinner—with program and Nativity
Grandma Days
Something you can look forward to is becoming a grandma. For those of you who have become grandmas already, the best tradition ever is Grandma Days. Have all the grandchildren over and play with them. Your imagination is the limit. You can do crafts, go on excursions like the zoo, swimming, hiking, the reservoir, sleepovers, or just play games. If you thought having children was wonderful, wait till you have grandchildren!
What traditions will you create for your family this year?
You might want to start small— traditions are to bring joy into our families, not stress us out. Keep things simple. Focus on what is most important: just being together. Pick one daily tradition, one weekly tradition, and one monthly tradition that might really make a difference in bringing a little bit more love and joy into your home. I have shared some ideas with you; what ideas do you have? Remember, the sky’s the limit.
You know better than anyone what traditions will help your family draw closer. Enjoy the journey.
