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Original poster

Tell me about your family traditions!

41 replies

Angliski · 12/06/2023 20:00

Hello!

we have a young family. I had a very dysfunctional childhood, parents didn’t seem to like being parents. I’m keen to create a family that enjoys one another :)

I would love to hear about your quirky family traditions- what are they, how dot hey bring you all together and how did they come about? Did this generation make them or have they been in your family for yonks?

thanks in advance for the inspo!

OP posts:
TeenDivided · 12/06/2023 20:05

We have things around Christmas where we did something once, thought 'that was nice let's do it again'.

Similarly Easter.

I can't really think of other things but bo doubt the thread will prompt me.

Mainly things evolve.

Original poster
Angliski · 12/06/2023 20:13

A tiny fun thing we do is to spot milk trucks on long drives. The first person to spot it calls ‘milk truck’ and wins a point.

What things do you do at Christmas PP?

OP posts:
Sewaccidentprone · 12/06/2023 20:16

Ds1 wouldn’t eat tomato ketchup, but would have brown sauce. And would also have ‘red sauce’.

he’s now an adult and we still call it red sauce 😀

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Original poster
Angliski · 12/06/2023 20:22

I like to make up little songs about my kid and what he is doing, often to tunes he already knows like ‘horsey horsey’ or ‘ a pizza hut’ but with a song made up about ds.

OP posts:
Bexx87 · 12/06/2023 20:24

Sewaccidentprone · 12/06/2023 20:16

Ds1 wouldn’t eat tomato ketchup, but would have brown sauce. And would also have ‘red sauce’.

he’s now an adult and we still call it red sauce 😀

I don't know anyone in day to day life that actually calls it ketchup. It's always been red sauce. Maybe it's a Liverpool thing.

DogsvsCats · 12/06/2023 20:25

Similar background to you OP and I'd say that traditions have mostly formed themselves over 20 years of child rearing...

  • holidays- there's certain card games we play that came about because that's what everyone ended up enjoying and continues on. Meals and drinks on holiday too have formed over the years...DH is only on holiday once he's had a local beer, DC's once they've had a steak, me once I've seen a sunset & sunrise...
  • birthdays- we decorate with a banner and balloon and use them all year for each person until worn out. Birthday celebrant chooses the takeaway..
  • Christmas- a mix of the common ones and our own- like we have an order to decorating and pick out baubles that each year that DC's will take with them when they leave for good...

Other things are we do something unusual for Father's Day- not sure when that started but try to do something other than a Sunday roast...

We eat outside as long into autumn as we can until we really can't stand how cold it is anymore ... we re-watch their childhood favourite movies...we bond over funny dog videos....all things that just materialise as you grow as a family. You will have these things too so don't worry too much about planning & organising too much

MarnieCres · 12/06/2023 20:25

A birthday is not a birthday unless you have a cake WITH CANDLES.

My DC’s made that one up ( after spending a birthday with their dad, where there were no candles... In fact there wasn't even a cake....but that's another story...😉)

Newname2323 · 12/06/2023 20:30

Christmas Eve box with pjs, a mug and a dvd to watch every year with the snacks to go with it. Everyone's box will have what they enjoy drinking in the mug (hot chocolate sachet, nice tea bag etc). Then all sit in our pjs watching the film.

Another one is if we haven't had much for dinner we have a picnic. Did it myself growing up and now do it with my own. We put a blanket down and nibbles in front of the tv before bed. Love hearing "can we have a picnic tonight" because who doesn't want an excuse to eat more 😂

MarnieCres · 12/06/2023 20:30

And like the PP above, I buy a Christmas bauble every year. Dc’s have a bauble box. They hang them on their own tree each year and will take the bauble box when they move out. We have bauble from holidays, to match favourite team's, films, colours, foods and hobbies. Retro ones because they've got older they are into vintage.
They have moved out....the baubles are still here...😂 - quite precious and difficult to part with...perhaps given when they buy their first house...

Original poster
Angliski · 12/06/2023 20:34

ahhh these are lovely! Keep them coming… I love the image of the inside house picnic and the little one doing the star on the tree and the named baubles… and the experiences too like ‘ how we know we are on hols’ … sweet.

OP posts:
Anoushkaka · 12/06/2023 20:35

Always have a small party for birthdays, just me, DH and the kids. Cake, candles, banner balloon and sweets. Just us.

Christmas Eve its new pj's, watch Christmas films and get a takeaway. We also always go downstairs together on Christmas morning and we recorded every Christmas morning on camcorder.

We have breakfast together every Saturday morning without fail, fry up, pancakes, the works.

Justcallmebebes · 12/06/2023 20:37

I always took my DC to panto at Christmas and now we take grandkids too. We also always have a bucket and spade UK seaside catavan hol with kids and grandkids every year. These are a couple of our traditions that are now 2nd generation

averythinline · 12/06/2023 20:42

we do xmas pjs and story especially ..and birthday banner and firework age candles...
if there's something international on we have food to match and flag bunting.. so throughout euros/world cups etc..always pick teams out of a hat ... and eat food on the match days so brushetta followed by paella as example for italy vs spain...

MarnieCres · 12/06/2023 20:45

I think the best traditions are those that come about from listening to your own children. They evolve.

Another I have noticed with mine. When they were younger I would lay out the holiday clothes on the landing ready for packing.
To check they both had all the clothes they needed I would sit with them and go through the list saying - ‘denim shorts’ - they would put them in their own case...’red t-shirt’ - in the cases they would go.

I smiled to myself before our last holiday, when I realised my late teens had put their case and laid out their clothes on the landing 😂

I can only assume that they think that's how every family packs! 😂

ScottBakula · 12/06/2023 20:47

I would say don't try to make traditions , they are something that evolve naturally over time.

For me when I was little , about 5/6 if I was poorly or upset at bed time my DDAD would light a candle and put it in my bedroom for it to 'watch over me' .
If I was ill it's light and heat would make me better ( so I believed)
If I was upset I would tell it my worries and they would go away .

Many many years later I learnt that my dad would stand outside my bedroom door to see if there was any seriously wrong that he needed to know about.

Now 40+ years later I will still light a couple of candles when I am ill or feeling blue .

newmumtotwo24 · 12/06/2023 20:47

Ooo love this.
Old family traditions. We always opened stockings first sat on my parents bed (now we're grown and own our own houses we do this first when we arrive at whoever is hosting), then we'd have boiled eggs for breakfast while parents showered and then main presents which are all in our own pillowcase in our 'spot' in the room.
I now have two littles so wanting to start some traditions for our little unit, so far we have done a photo in front of the tree with matching pjs twice. And now the eldest is older and understands more my plan is on the 1st December I'll get the tree up with the lights, then we decorate and they get a gift, which will be new pjs (that years matching ones) and a treat. Kinda like people's Christmas Eve boxes but I want to do it earlier to get more use out of the pjs and to kick off the magic. As we grow I know we'll start more too

ilovepixie · 12/06/2023 20:49

MarnieCres · 12/06/2023 20:25

A birthday is not a birthday unless you have a cake WITH CANDLES.

My DC’s made that one up ( after spending a birthday with their dad, where there were no candles... In fact there wasn't even a cake....but that's another story...😉)

You have to have cake with candles! It's the law!

violetcuriosity · 12/06/2023 20:49

'Pizza on the floor' for dinner on Fridays, basically just pizza, garlic bread etc on the floor and watching a film every Friday night.

All bundling into our bed on Saturday mornings, is drinking tea, kids showing us stupid YouTube videos on TV, baby being chucked about 😂.

Loads of typical Christmas ones, the 'advent box' which marks the arrival of the advent calendar, their Christmas duvet sets and their decorations they collect for their rooms. Each box also has a box of celebrations that we get through throughout December. Father Christmas visit at the garden centre and each year we get a new decoration for the tree during the visit.

When eldest was a baby we decided we wanted to have a holiday they could say they did every year as a child so we've been to Cornwall in the same house for 7 years running now and it's caught on slowly over the years. There's now 20 of us that go down and stay in different houses around the village.

Other silly ones that have just appeared over the years that might not be everyones cup of tea but our kids enjoy them and they make us laugh- we often walk to the pub if it's nice weather during the witching hour, the rule is, if we are blessed by the sleep gods and baby falls asleep the other children watch our phones and pretend they aren't there while we enjoy our drink in peace for 10 mins 🤣 another one is 'mummy and daddy need 10 hugs a day from each child to maintain enough energy to care for you all' they find it hilarious. It's just the little things that make a family. You'll find your own 💖

LindorDoubleChoc · 12/06/2023 20:50

My Mum did everything at home while my Dad worked on building up his career and becoming very successful. So she would bake with us, take us to school, make clothes for us, look after the pets, supervise the housework etc. Dad would do a bit of gardening and make sure the car got serviced etc. Then he left her when he was on the brink of making serious money when I was 10. So my family traditions after that were a half day a week visit (where he was incapable of cooking anything other than sausages and beans) and living 6.5 days per week with a seriously depressed adult in tears all the time. Cheers to family traditions!

Greentree1 · 12/06/2023 20:55

Homemade cake for Birthdays and Christmas. Christmas tree ornaments that we have now had forever, also add a few most years, far to many for the tree really. Much amusement getting them out each Christmas (where and when each one came from, why we have a pink flamingo and other really bizarre ornaments, and which ones got half eaten by the cat).

mondaytosunday · 12/06/2023 20:58

Having Sunday lunch together - one of the few meals we all sat at the table for.
Reading to the kids before bed was a big thing. And a bonus if my husband came home from work in time to do this. It would be the only time he saw them during the week.
Annual 'first day at school' photo.
Easter egg hunt.
Christmas has loads of traditions! Going out to cut our own tree. Getting up early to open presents, big breakfast (french toast and bacon) as dinner would be around 4.30, same Christmas movies every year.
Just do something, if it's fun and everyone enjoyed it make it a monthly/annual/seasonal thing!

cigarettesNalcohol · 12/06/2023 21:07

At the end of the day we sit down for dinner and each say what our favourite part of the day was and what our worst part of the day was and why.

thatsn0tmyname · 12/06/2023 21:19

Every year between Christmas and New Year, I make a photo album on photobox. It's such as lovely thing to do, when the kids are in bed and I have a prosecco. So many photos trapped on phones are now in books that the children can keep.

Kendodd · 12/06/2023 21:29

Birthday person gets breakfast in bed.
Bunting goes up for birthdays and Easter.
Fairy lights at Christmas.
Easter egg hunt and roast lamb for Easter.
Swim in the sea on boxing day.
Panto every Christmas.
Theres always a party on NYE, kids as well.

YappyCamper · 12/06/2023 21:52

As PPs have said, none of these were consciously started, they just developed over time:

  • uno tournament every holiday, we do it properly and keep score and have a little trophy that the winner gets to keep until the next holiday
  • Friday pizzas cooked in the ooni followed by a couple of episodes of taskmaster
  • treehouse pasta (tomato and mascarpone sauce with fresh tortellini, just because we had it once staying in a treehouse and the kids loved it. It will be treehouse pasta for evermore)
  • I make a particular cake when anyone has a birthday. I always want to mix it up a bit and do something different but everybody wants the same cake every year