Family Traditions - It's Never Too Late to Start

Family traditions were an important part of my life when I was growing up, and I wanted to establish some new traditions when I started my own family. Whether you are a newlywed or you've been married for a while, you should look for opportunities to start your own family traditions.

Here are a few of my favorites:

New Year's traditions. My dad used to celebrate the New Year by sweeping out the bad luck and sweeping in the good luck after the ball dropped at midnight. We also had sausage sandwiches on New Year's Eve and sauerkraut on New Year's Day. Even though I didn't like sauerkraut, I appreciated what my parents were trying to do. To this day, New Year's Day is one of my favorite holidays.

Anniversary traditions. When my wife and I started counting the months we were married, I thought about what a shame it would be to stop doing it. I always wanted us to feel like newlyweds, so I do something little for her each month to celebrate our "monthly" anniversary. I remind her of how many years and months we've been married.

As far as our real anniversary goes, we take turns planning it - She takes the odd years and I handle the even ones. That takes the pressure off each of us every other year, and it challenges us to surprise each other.

Birthday traditions. In the same way, my wife and I sing "Happy Birthday" to our daughter every month on her "monthly" birthday. We only have one kid, so we put all our energy into letter her know how special she is. I'm sure we would do the same thing if we had more kids.

Christmas traditions. Ever since I was a teenager, I've served as the distributor of presents on Christmas morning. I guess it's just my need to be the host/announcer whenever possible. I try to make sure everyone watches each other open the presents, rather ripping them open all at once. It allows people to thank each other and see each other's happiness when they open their gifts. It also slows things down, because if there is one thing you don't want to rush, it's Christmas morning.

Halloween traditions. Every year, my wife makes matching homemade costumes for me and my daughter. We've been Elmo & Cookie Monster, Big Bird & Snuffy, Larry-Boy and Alfred the Butler (from Veggie Tales) and Mary Poppins & Bert. It's something we plan all year, and it's something we can all do together.

Other traditions. When we play a board game, we let the winner take a victory lap. It's not a way to taunt the opponents; in fact, everyone ends up joining in. It makes everyone (not just the winner) feel good.

I'm sure this list will grow over time. I'm sure you have traditions of your own, and I think they give children good memories that they can pass along to their own kids.