Using Holiday Moments to Build Family Traditions

Children enjoy decorating their own
little Christmas trees.

The holiday season is an ideal time to employ special moments as a way to build lifelong traditions with your kids. Take time to slow down and invest in each other to build upon a set of traditions that can be carried on for generations and leave a lasting legacy in your family.

Most of us are decking the halls and making the season bright, but you can turn this into an important time for your child through a few simple steps. Look at the ornaments on your tree. Are there special ones that have significance? Let your kids take ownership of ornaments like this and hang them in a place of honor on the tree. Be sure to tell the stories behind ornaments that are important to the family. Another way to build a family tradition with ornaments is to allow children to purchase a new ornament that they particularly like each Christmas. It will be their job to place it on the tree every year.

To take the decorating tradition up a notch, find a small tree that is just for your kids to decorate. Let them be the masters of the tree and decorate it as they see fit. Knowing that they have their “own” tree, gives them something they can look forward to every year. This year my daughter decorated a small Disney Princess tree that is distinctly her own work of art.

Setting up the nativity scene can be another holiday tradition for religious families. As each piece is placed, retell the story of Jesus, and invite your children to be part of the storytelling.

As more and more lights make their appearance on our holiday horizon, make a yearly tradition of visiting the area’s light displays. I still remember visiting a light display at a local waterfall every year. My family made it a tradition to go to the falls and walk down the path to view the display. It was an annual event and one that I eagerly anticipated. Search out a light display in the area, and make a point to visit that display, even if it’s just a drive-by viewing. Top off the night with a cup of hot cocoa and you’ve got a family tradition in the making.

Children’s Christmas books abound at this time of year, and your family may already have a favorite. Whether the story is read every night of the season or only on a certain night, bringing those moments of literature into the house encourages reading while fostering enjoyment of the season. It may be the story of Jesus read straight from the Bible, a beautifully illustrated version of “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” or even the Dr. Seuss Classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Whatever it is, make the reading of a Christmas classic an event for everyone. Pull up pillows in front of the fireplace, grab the milk and cookies, and gather together for the story. Parents don’t necessarily have to do the reading, either. Older siblings can read to the family, or let the willing readers take turns with different books. Stuck on what book to read? Visit Jay & Mary’s Book Center in Troy, and they will be happy to make suggestions for you from the great selection of holiday books that they always stock at this time of year.

Create little sous chefs by allowing kids to be an integral part of the cookie baking process. Everyone can don aprons and set about with cookie making and decorating. Containers of sugars and sprinkles will definitely catch a child’s eye, and they’ll remember spending time in the kitchen baking up warm memories. Share the goodness of your kitchen by delivering plates of baked goods to neighbors. Let the kids add a personal touch by decorating Christmas cards with drawings and stickers. This will surely warm your neighbors’ hearts, and it will help your children understand what it means to give.

Whatever traditions you choose to build in your family both this year and in the years to come, remember that the essential element is time. Spend time together away from the other distractions of life. Turn off the TV and the other electronics. Connect with your kids by giving them your undivided attention while you make those holiday traditions ones that will last a lifetime.