Family traditions play a big part in our parenting. They are fun, consistent, they help us bond as a family in a fun way and most importantly they create THE BEST memories for all of us.
And guess what - you don't have to wait for Christmas, Birthday or any other holiday to have your family tradition. I am sharing some of our family traditions that we basically use every day.
1. Yes day. Each child picks a day (once in 2 weeks or when it's really needed) where we say YES to anything they ask. Of course, they know the rules and try not to abuse them. They can't ask for ridiculous stuff, like "take me to Disneyland today", but I will admit that just for the sake of this day we have agreed on some crazy stuff. We may or may not have eaten ice cream for dinner. And lunch. And breakfast. But mostly kids use this day to ask us to play with them their games.
2. Daughter's / Son's day happens on Mother's and Father's day. We still put emphasis on mother and father, but we also do special things for kids, like write them cards and say how much we love them. Basically, we just exchange the cards that day. They feel very special.
3. Dress up day became our family tradition when one day my daughter laid everybody's outfits for the day and insisted us to wear them. Since we can't do that too often (for obvious reasons), we let her do it only on April Fool's day. Our local produce market could hardly handle our sense of fashion.
4. On Rainy days we all put our rain coats, boots on and go puddle jumping. But then again, we don't have many rainy days where we live, so when it rains it's really a special treat for all of us.
5. Adventure day. Sunday afternoon is our family travel time. We don't go anywhere further then 100 miles. Sometimes we take a train, sometimes it's a bus. If we go with car, we try it to be as spontaneous as we can considering we have 2 kids, like taking a road that we never did before that leads us to taking a hike or just a dead end.
6. Pizza night. It happens every Friday. There is no way we can miss that. We make it from scratch and every person puts their own toppings on it. Even if it's pickles.
7. Family yoga happens mostly every night. We don't try to be good at it, we do it just for fun. It's a great way to exercise too. Oh, and the laughs we have...
8. Flower day! Now, it doesn't happen very often, but when it does - it's really pleasant surprise and one of my personal favorite family traditions. My husband picks some wild flowers and brings one bouquet to me and one (a smaller one) to my daughter. With no occasion.
9. Group hug. Since my husband and I both work from home, we don't get to leave the house very often. But if one of us do, we usually do a group hug. We just pick the kids up and we all hug. It's really a fun moment. "Kids, come here! Dad is leaving. It's time for a group hug!"
10. Dance party usually happens in the mornings. We do it at least twice a week. Mostly it's me and my daughter. The music is on and we just dance it off. It's a silly dance time where we really get into it and break a pretty good sweat.
11. Moon light talks. We did these talks during this summer time and really loved it. After dinner, when it gets dark we would gather outside on the porch and just talk. Sometimes it's silly stories, and some nights we talk about really serious stuff.
12. A good deed day. We started doing this almost a year ago and every time we are about to miss a day, kids make sure to remind us. It's a day where we randomly pick a good thing to do for a random person. The joy that we all experience that day is indescribable. I think this is one of our most favorite family traditions.
13. Exploring day. Once a week we take our 6 year old to different places. My husband and I take turns. It's kind of like a date with your child, but it's an educational one. We take her to places like shoe repair shop or inside of bakery to actually see how those cupcakes are made or olive factory where they make olive oil from fresh olives.
14. Connect with family. Since we are an international family, we have relatives and good friends spread out all over the world. I think it's important to keep those relationships as close as possible. For example, every day (even if it's just 2 minutes) I call my mom on Skype to video chat. Of course, kids don't interact much, they just say hi and run away, but they sure to remind me every night to call grandma and grandpa in case I am running late.
So there you have it. Our favorite family traditions that we adore and could not live without. I think they are super important in creating great family memories and may I say it keeps us sane and quite a happy family. Every time we are having a bad day or week we make sure to pull out one of those traditions and use them.
leisa says
We love your ideas. Thanks so much for sharing. The yes day is one im looking forward to most. My 4 year old is sooo imaginitive. We'll see what his brain thinks up
Birute Efe says
Yes, it's really interesting sometimes to see what kids come up with when you tell them they can ask for anything they want (considering the limits). Mostly, my kids want us to play with them all day their games.
juliet says
On day's they shouldn't of had school due to weather but do I pick up my daughter s friends and we go out to breakfast before, therefore the disappointment is forgotten! On days they do have off for weather local in door water park offers $10 days!
Birute Efe says
Water park sounds so good, Julliet