Family Traditions in the Home

Traditions within the home can be important for a variety of reasons. From celebrating major holidays, to scheduling a family game night, the structure and routine that each family tradition is able to provide can help to foster a happier, healthier, and more nurturing environment. Traditions can be especially important for children who may be undergoing periods of emotional growth. From finding ways to recognize and reward the accomplishments of a loved one to starting a new tradition from scratch, family habits, customs, and traditions play an important role in the creation of a happy, and emotionally healthy home.

Celebrating Accomplishments

Whether it's finding a new job, or simply getting a good report card, there are countless accomplishments within the home that warrant recognition. Having a special restaurant where the whole family can gather to celebrate is a popular tradition for countless households. Having an established tradition for celebrating an accomplishment can help to provide children, and even teenagers with a little extra motivation. Lacking a way to celebrate can often leave members of the household feeling overlooked, or unappreciated, emotions that often increase instances of tensions, stress, or conflict within the home.

Weekly Family Nights

Families do not always need a reason to get together, and engage in a shared activity. Having a regular outing, or a family game night each week is a great way to break up the day-to-day routine. Getting together regularly, in order to have fun helps to strengthen emotional bonds, relieve stress, and bring families closer together. For households that have begun to feel distant, or disconnected, scheduling a weekly game night, or similar activity could end up making a real difference.

Major Holidays

While a weekly game or movie night, and a regular family restaurant may both have a great deal to offer, there is no substitute for a major holiday. When it comes to celebrating the holidays, it is important to remember that every family is different. Holidays that may be very significant to one household, may prove to be nothing more than a minor affair to another. From decorating a 9 ft Christmas tree, to running an outdoor haunted house during Halloween, establishing and developing different traditions for each holiday can help to provide families with a clear sense of identity and belonging. Even the most minor holiday can be cause to celebrate, and families may wish to commemorate past events that hold special significance to the household by developing their own seasonal or annual holidays.

Learning About Other Cultures

Holidays that are celebrated by different cultures can also provide the household with a fun and unique way to learn, explore, and experience different things. Choosing to adopt, or recognize a new holiday can provide parents with a valuable opportunity to expand their children's horizons. Of course, education is far from the only reason to explore new holidays. Families that are in search of something new to celebrate, or a more novel, and memorable experience would do well to consider all that a new holiday, and different tradition have to offer.

Starting a New Tradition

Not every tradition may be able to stand the test of time. Building and establishing new traditions can be just as important as recognizing past events. Holidays that have become little more than an ordeal, and family outings and activities that may have been outgrown, may no longer be worth the time and effort involved. Developing new traditions can provide families with a range of alternatives to any events, holidays, or activities that may have grown stale, or outlived their usefulness. Not every new tradition may stick, so a little trial and error is to be expected, but such efforts are often well worth it for families that enjoy novelty.