Traditionally when we think of family traditions we look to mealtimes.
Dinnertimes you’ve probably got it covered already.
So let’s look to some of the other areas. Places we can put in some fun, smiles and connection to smooth over sticky parts to our day. Stop us from going crazy. Connect with our little ones and try something new that’s unique to our family.
There are so many other places we can have fun family traditions.
Goodbye rituals
Wouldn’t it be fun to have a goodbye that is totally just your family way. You see all the cool fist bumps, high fives and hand combinations but what about one just for your family. It could be an action or a saying.
When we need to cool off a new ritual for us
- Breath deeply slowly three times.
- Get a drink.
- Seek a candle or incense
- Look out the window at nature
- People watch
- Go to your comfy space
- ….playdough. ( feels good to squish and squash in the hand. Out goes the tension)
Family song and dance around
Relive your youth again and share your favourite songs with the kids. A little here and there. Do you find yourself going back to a song?
Our family song is Seasons of love from the Rent soundtrack. We sung it regularly when Mr PlayActivities was deployed for a year since it has the line- 525 600 minutes how do you measure a year. It had lots of significance and still does. When this song comes on we melt into a puddle of singing fools and hugs.
Personal request…..
If anyone has any rituals for leaving the house of a playdate or friend I would love to hear…………….
This post is day 26 of the 31 days of growing family conversations. This week the focus is on family. Previous weeks we’ve talked to the children, us and our spouse. We’re finding time to ask and answer these questions for our family.
Conversation: What family traditions do you already do? What new tradition will connect your family that’s simple and doable?
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Some of our family rituals are: playing music when we clean the house, we have a family game/movie night and I also set aside one night a week after dinner for each child to share their hobby or craft with the family. For example , I had one child who loves to draw and gardening, another who loves cooking, writing and in the past playing the Cello, I have another child who is passionate about sewing and anything dealing with music, and my youngest child loves photography (We call him paparazzi sometimes) and singing( he loves Maxwell).
Giving each one of my children their own special night to share their talent with the whole family didn’t start off as some brilliant idea to make my children feel special, it actually began because I didn’t have enough time to fully enjoy and appreciate my school age children’s work/ ideas or hobbies because I was becoming a busy in home daycare provider who was there and present for my daycare children and my 2 little ones who were at home with me. Basically, I was present but wasn’t present, if that makes any sense. Well, fast forward years later and as a family we still do this practice and my kids love sharing their passions with each other. This practice actually has helped build portfolios for my children, my oldest daughter used a lot of her drawings to get into the Magnet (Art) program at her school. Well, I’m sorry for being so long winded, but I just had to tell you our experience.
I love this Shelly.