Family Traditions

Many families have long standing traditions during the holidays and ours used to until I became married. My brother happened to get married 7 weeks later so the two of us really messed up the holiday traditions in our family. Since we both have our own families now, we are working on new traditions. Our biggest tradition, pre-family, was to go to my grandparents for Christmas and then have a huge family gathering the afternoon of Christmas.

The biggest change came from my husband's side. His family alternates on which holiday they celebrate each year - Thanksgiving or Christmas. This year we will be celebrating on Thanksgiving, which means I need to get cracking on my shopping for his family. I kind of like this tradition because then we do not have to figure out how to visit both families each year.

Another tradition we do is to get together with several of our friends. Since college, I have hosted a Christmas party for my friends every year. Ok, a few times someone else hosted, but I helped organize the annual event. I started this tradition because many of my friends were spread out across the country for college. Many of them still are, but we all try to get together every year. If someone can not make it, we give them a call during the party. It has evolved over the years from going out to a nice dinner to now having a potluck and watching the kids play. A couple of years ago we added a secret santa aspect to it.

I heard a great tradition this week from one of our MOPS mentor moms. The kids dress up in their PJ's and they all drive around town looking at Christmas lights. Afterwards, they go to Krispy Kreme for a yummy treat. My child loves lights so I'm thinking of doing something similar this year.

I also hope to include him in my marathon baking sessions. Some years I bake a ton, and some years just a little. Last year I bought ready made cookie dough and let him cut out cookies. He loved it and the cookie dough saved me the mess of making it homemade (I wasn't in the mood to clean up the flour that would have been thrown throughout the kitchen).

What are your family traditions and how have they evolved over the years? Feel free to leave a comment.