A lot of us grew up with our own set of traditions. Some were traditions for the whole family, and others might be traditions just between you and a another person (a sibling, parent, grandparent or friend). I am an advocate for traditions. It’s something to look forward to. When I was a kid, I wanted more family traditions than the usual holiday traditions. I wanted random traditions. I just love any reason to celebrate with family. Some days I would hang up decorations and put out snacks (or cook dinner) and put on some music. It was so fun to do. One time I started cooking and everyone joined in and we created this big feast. You would think it was a holiday. I hung up some old Christmas lights and played some music. We ate, talked, laughed and then had a little karaoke fun. Afterward my sister and I had a comical dance battle. It was so much fun. Those are the type of moments that I hang on to. I always pictured that if I ever had children that I would try to incorporate random traditions. It doesn’t have to be a holiday. We can make our own holiday. I just want to have that time where we disconnect from the digital world and enjoy the moment.
Even the smaller traditions can make a large impact. My dad and I used to watch one of our favorite sitcoms every night and eat ice cream. He would buy two pints of ice cream and we would watch our show. Over 7 years later (since I moved out) and I always appreciated those moments. They were so special. There are even some college traditions that I miss. Sometimes you don’t realize how special these moments are until you enter the next chapter of your life. I look back on these moments with so much appreciation. Now I’m learning to start new traditions. I remember my first Christmas Eve with my hubby (It think it was the Christmas before we got engaged). I baked a lot of cookies (sugar, chocolate chip, oatmeal and peanut butter cookies). I made some cocoa with a ton of marshmallows and we watched some Christmas movies. It was the start of our new Christmas Eve tradition. We also get Chinese takeout every Christmas eve. It’s random, but it’s what we do. We love it. I hope to start a lot of new traditions in the near future. Time is precious. Life is short. When you’re a kid it feels like it’s moving a slow pace, but after 22 you realized how fast it goes by. So in this busy world we have to remember to make time for each other.
JustGottaMakeIt 