(You know…the song from Fiddler on the Roof? Or am I a dying breed…does anybody else like those old musicals?)
I love traditions, and I recently read something that makes me love them even more…
“According to the American Psychological Association there is strong evidence that traditions act as glue – helping families stay connected and strong. Traditions involve symbolic communication that leaves the individual feeling that the activity has a felt rightness. There is often an emotional residue associated with rituals that is replayed in memory. These memories then help the individual recapture feelings of belonging and well-being long after the event is over.”
Excerpt taken from Holiday Traditions: More Important Than You May Think by Juanita Thouin.
I found this so fascinating, exciting and encouraging! …Exactly what I believed to be true, but couldn’t put into such an itellectual sounding statement! Quite frankly, sometimes it’s really had work to “do” the tradition. (more so this year, with my third-trimester-of-pregnancy-lethargy.) But already, I can most certainly see – particularly in my two older sons - evidence of this “felt rightness.” It’s really cool! Given the opportunity to “glue” my family together, the work is definitely worth it!
Of course, as Christians, some of our holiday traditions are rooted in our faith, and have a lot of spiritual meaning. But I believe (and even more so now, after reading the above-quoted article) that the “meaningless” traditions – even the silly, fun ones - are valuable as well…just because they’re our traditions!
Also in the article were some different suggestions for traditions…one suggestion was to have an untraditional meal, something that would be unique to your family. So this Easter, we decided kabobs would be fun and different…and yummy too! And they were! We’re keepin’ that tradition! (Mmmmm…I love tzatziki sauce.) And I didn’t think of this ’till later, but kabobs could even be a good object lesson for Easter, especially if they’re lamb-kabobs (we just used chicken). Maybe next year.
As well, this year, I decided I wanted to have an Easter Tea! Although, I must confess an ulterior motive…I wanted an excuse to make something I’d been craving - my “Mother’s Birthday Cake.” A scrumptious, homemade, white, pound-type-cake. (Mum, if you’re reading, it turned out really well this time…although not as good as yours.)
It was fun…but Zeke thought the tea and the cake was gross. (Which is why my “Mother’s Birthday Cake” isn’t “My Birthday Cake.” My kids don’t really like it). This tradition is definitely going to be a keeper as well. It makes me grin to think of my three (and maybe four!) teenage boys sitting down at a flowered tablecloth for an Easter Tea! Which reminds me of something else I read in the article…older children may “buck” family traditions, but this shouldn’t be the end of them. They will appreciate them again as they grow older!
Tradition, tradition!
We were beginning to see all kinds of robins around our place. (This isn’t a picture I took though, I just found it online…our trees aren’t budding yet. Isn’t it a pretty robin?) A sure sign of spring, right? Uh…apparently not, we have a winter storm coming! Over half a foot of snow is predicted. I really feel genuinely sorry for all the robins. I could hear them singing blithely this morning, proclaiming to all, “Spring is in the air!” The poor things have no idea what is coming…I hope they survive.
