Which childhood traditions created the best memories?

[ThisOchreLemur]

I'm a mum of a young child and I'm hoping to start lots of traditions and create lots of great family time and cherished memories for her. Which traditions made your childhood magical? Looking for ideas please. Thank you x

Most of my favourite childhood memories involved my 2 Aunties who didn't have DC of their own. One Aunt always took me to the shops Saturday morning to choose a comic. The other Auntie used to make cakes and let me ice them and load them up with jelly tots. Mum used to just make nice but plain cakes with the occasional blob of icing on. My Auntie used to take me to the wurliwash to do washing when I was very small and she'd play dominoes with me and read me stories whilst we waited for washing and drying to finish. My Aunties took me and my younger sister out a lot to the beach and cinema. My poor Mum was constantly working so she didn't have much time to take us herself. My Aunties made Xmas magical for me and my younger sister too. We always decorated a log with cotton wool and put a little Santa and some reindeers on it and always sprinkled it with lots of glitter. I know Mum was not keen on the glitter because it fell off and made a mess. My Aunties have both been dead over 11 years and I still miss them and smile when I see a lot of glitter.

I love this thread and I'm loving reading about everyone's traditions.

A lot of mine are related to Christmas: going to pick up a 2m Christmas tree and then all of us decorating it together. We used to have these angel decorations. Each angel did something different like play an instrument, read a book or ski. I loved playing with them. Throughout December my mum would bake Christmas cookies. I didn't love eating them ( though my mum was a fantastic baker) but I loved eating the raw cookie dough and I loved using our cookie cutters. And we got an advent calendar every 1st Dec. My brother usually ate all his chocolates on the first day which used to annoy the hell out me... we also cut out paper stars and made other decorations. Christmas day itself was often rubbish with either my parents arguing or later my brother and my dad but December and the run up to Christmas were always magical and I try to recreate these traditions with my kids.

Now as an adult I really appreciate the effort my parents made especially xonsidering they weren't Christian and these were not traditions they had grown up with.

Other traditions:

The same food every weekend if we were at home. Every Friday evening my mum made pizza. We often ate all the toppings helped. This was often after doing the big shop (similar to costco). I still remember fondly running back and forth between the car and our house with bags of shopping. Then Saturday evening we always had spaghetti and on Sunday we would have indian types of bread with our favourite curry. Dh recently remarked that my mum still makes exactly the same dish every time my brother comes to visit (when she is stayijg with us). I hadn't clocked it but it's true.

In summer we usually went to either a lake or this fantastic wave generating pool on the weekend and one summer my dad took my best friend and me every single Saturday to this particular lake where my friend and me would swim and play then have a picnic with my dad.

I also remember my birthday parties a lot. In those days we just called friends home ajd played games like musical statues but we loved it. My mum always made 2-3 types of cake and we could have either coke or lemonade to drink. Funnily enough one of my fondest memories is filling the party bags the night before.

I have a lot of fond memories of my childhood and these things we used to do regularly and I'm very grateful for them as some other parts of my childhood weren't that happy. Another thing that has stayed with me a lot is that every Saturday and Sunday morning while I had a lie in my dad would play old and famous bollywood songs and I used to love lying in bed and listening to them. I still love these particular songs and feel happy when by chance i happen to hear them now.

Another pretending game we loved happened on Easter Sunday. We played pin the tail on the Easter bunny, after being told that the Bunny would make a special visit to our garden. Only those who pinned his tail in exactly the right place would see him: everyone else had to make do with hearing him. Of course, nobody got it exactly right, so we were blindfolded and led outside, and each given a small carrot to hold. The Bunny then arrived, bit the carrots out of our hands, teased us in a squeaky bunny voice about where we had pinned his tail, and then hid our eggs: we could hear him, because he wore a little bell. When the Bunny had gone, we had to find some small eggs by feel, before we were allowed to
uncover our eyes to hunt for our big eggs, which had our names on.

We used to visit lots of older people on Xmas Eve- mothers of my parents friends, that kind of thing. They were quick half hour visits to drop a present off, and we would get through a lot in the afternoon. Sounds boring for 2 youngish kids, but the excitement because it was Xmas Eve made up for it. As the afternoon went on and it got dark while we drove to the next person, we would be giddy with excitement looking at all the Christmas lights. Plus we knew when we got home that it was time to put our stockings out and get ready for bed.
I have such fond memories of those afternoons, despite having to visit a load of old people I didn’t really know! I often drive past the houses all these years later (old people have long died) and feel really fond memories.

Mum always says that me and my brother were amazing to put up with that and behave so beautifully because the reality is it was quite a boring thing to expect of two excited children, but we both secretly loved it I think.

So not a planned tradition, but one I remember fondly. My childhood christmases were amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to recreate those feelings of happiness again.

In winter we had a coal fire. Mum would wrap a potato in foil and leave it in the embers for a few hours. When I got home from school it would be cooked through. This was my snack with a dollop of butter. Very satisfying after a chilly walk from school.

Some of these bring back lovely nostalgic memories, I feel a bit weepy to be honest.
My favourite childhood tradition was my grandmother's Christmas Dinner, loads of us sat around her dining room table with mountains of glorious food! Then just when we thought we were so full we would pop she started preparing the evening buffet 🤣 I do this now for my family (granny got me in training as soon as I was old enough to help! When she was too old to make the dinner she used to sit in her chair in the kitchen and 'supervise' me and my sibling whilst we made it) my kids love the whole day and would consider it a disaster if the buffet wasn't available!
Another Christmas themed tradition we love is both children and sometimes us too picking a new nice bauble for the Christmas tree. We couldn't afford fancy baubles when the kids were little so just had the cheap multi packs from places like b&m, every year we would go to Debenhams and pick pretty baubles, the tree soon looked much nicer with a few more expensive decorations mixed in and the kids still ask me when we are going choosing the new ones even now at 17 & 14.
Other than that I don't think we have traditions as such.

Things that I remember from my childhood are:

Always having a bath on a Sunday evening and getting into pyjamas. Then mum would make a pot of tea and a big plate of buttered toast and we'd all sit around having our tea and toast before bed and school the next day.

Once a month, after payday my dad would take us children out on a Saturday morning for a milkshake at a local café. Looking back he was just giving my mum a break for an hour or two but I can still remember the glasses the milkshake came in and the curly straws.

There are traditions I have started with my DDs that they now ask for along a similar vein.

Saturdays are always pizza and popcorn night. We take it in turns each week to choose a film and eat in front of the TV. We eat all other dinners at the dining table but for pizza and a film, it's eating in the living room.

Sunday afternoons are "spa baths" for DDs and I. That evolved as I take some time out for myself on a Sunday afternoon around 4 or 5pm to have a bubble bath, listen to some music, light a candle then cover myself in body lotion when I get out and get into my pyjamas. Then DDs wanted to get involved so after I have my bath time I call them upstairs and do the same for them. A really bubbly bath, chillout music playing and it's just relaxing time. It also means they are clean and in their PJs early before back to school and work the next day.

On birthdays the birthday person can choose whatever they want for breakfast. This year DD1 chose chocolate chip cookies eaten in bed. Again, something we would never normally do but on birthdays anything goes. They also get to choose whatever birthday cake they wish. I will buy it from a shop if it's possible but sometimes they have an unusual choice and I have to make it e.g. DD2 when she was 3 chose a chocolate button and kiwi cake 🤣.

We also have a lot of traditions around Christmas. I always make a Christmas cake in October half term and everyone in the household has to stir the mixture and make a wish. I take a photo every year of DDs with the mixing bowl and spoon.

We always do a Christmas light safari in the car to drive around looking at the lights in our local town.

We choose a new ornament each year for the the Christmas tree that has some sort of special meaning. Either bought on holiday or has a connection to the year e.g. we got a crown one last year for the Coronation. Or one year we got a very festive dinosaur decoration 🤣 because DD1 was obsessed with them. It does not make for a classy Christmas tree but we love it! I also remember particular random Christmas decorations from the Christmas tree we had as children.

My mum kept a quote book (and still does), which is a very treasured possession. In recent years, some of the funniest things in it have been said by my nieces.

I think you'll find that the best and favourite traditions evolve into what your family likes.

Probably the most longstanding tradition in our house is the Easter Egg hunt.
I can't remember how old dd1 was when I first did clues round the house for her to follow and find her egg at the end, but probably about 4yo. Warning: she (and siblings) objected this year which would have been about the 20th year I did it, when I suggested they might be too old for it.
They have their clues, sometimes they work together, sometimes separately and then the last few are always their own to their own egg.
They occasionally lay other treasure tails for each other.

Christmas day we have levels of presents.
Stockings are always opened on the first day we're home after Christmas day (if we're away on Christmas day we have to ring a bell the night before to tell Santa we're home).
If we're away they get a couple of tiny things on Christmas morning, then presents from where we're visiting.
If we're home, then after lunch we open presents from people who are there.
On Boxing Day we open presents from people who have sent them/aren't there.
Then we have tree presents, which are one each day until they get back to school. These tend to be small ones, and often things they need (like new pen for school) but it stops things getting bored.
This evolved because dd1 was the first of the next generation all all sides so for her first few years everyone sent heaps of presents and she got overwhelmed.
The tree presents came from a year we had issues with post and things were delayed and so we had several after Christmas, and we all thought how nice it was.

One that has evolved naturally is watching for shooting stars. Perseid shower in August, one year one of the dc asked about them, so we waited until it was getting dark, and took blankets onto the trampoline, and lay there as it got dark watching them. We still do this, although the dc aren't always around because they do other things in August with friends now.

We used to do a board game and movie afternoon with lots of unhealthy snacks during holidays. We always finished with Monopoly.

So do things you like the idea of with your dc. See how they react and if they enjoy it. If they do, then do it with improvements the next time.

Walking through the fields and apple orchards with mum and dog. Playing football in the garden with my dad. Learning to swim at the local beach. Not traditions just really simple outdoors things.

This is a great idea and actually is "making memories".

You can't make memories OP, your child(ren) will either remember things or they won't. But the above suggestion will help a lot.

This sounds so adorable I'm going to start this!!

Dh as a boy was made to do this on a particularly special holiday they had. I can assure you that for he and his brothers it did make memories. But not good ones. They remember that trip and being forced to write far more than any of the things they did - if that holiday comes up in discussion that is what they talk about, not what they did.
I could reproduce any of the days he wrote about along the lines of:
"On X day we went to X. We went on the number x bus. It cost $X for adult tickets and $X for child tickets. It was X miles and took X minutes. We saw X. We had lunch. I had X, db1 had Y, db2 had Z. What we saw was <insert fact along the lines of X feet high>. We went home on the number x bus." <stuck in bus ticket>

Otoh I chose to do a holiday diary from the age of 8 until I left home. My main memories are of what we did, I remember writing about it on one evening, because my dbro didn't want me to write about something he'd done, and unfortunately I'd already written it, and he was not happy.

So don't force them if they aren't keen on writing. Perhaps do something together and stick in lots of photos of you want them to be able to look back at it and remember.

Weekly: woodland walks and the park; family day on Sundays: we do day trips to various places: museums, galleries, country parks, etc.. then family board game night or movie night.

Food: Fridays are pizza nights. We are slowly introducing the kids to different cuisines from different countries either from takeaways or eating in restaurants.

Holidays: Every year, we have one UK holiday, one European holiday, one US holiday where we visit a new state and one holiday visiting a new country that we have never been to.

Seasonal: Easter egg hunt, Summer picnics in the park; Pumpkin picking and going to a Halloween/pumpkin festival; Decorating the house for Halloween; Trick or treating in our neighbourhood on Halloween; Going to see the fireworks on Guy Fawkes night; Decorating the house for Christmas while listening to Christmas songs; Visiting Santa's Grotto; Watching Christmas movies in Christmas pjs and drinking hot chocolate and reading "'Twas the Night Before Christmas."

I've also bought Dr. Seuss's "Oh the Places You Will Go" for my DC and each year I ask their teachers to sign words of encouragement on a page. I plan to give their signed books to them when they graduate secondary school as a present.

On the first day of the school year, I take a picture of the kids with a sign of what school year they are starting and I record a video of them asking them what they want to be when they grow up and what their favourite things to do are.

As a family, we tend to focus our time and money on experiences and traveling rather than things. We're quite simple and minimalist at home when it comes to clothes, toys, home furnishings etc.

Most of our best traditions are the result of necessity being the mother of invention. The special towel for floor picnics that is known as "the lawn" for the purposes of "tea on the lawn"; decorating the Christmas tree with biscuits and dried oranges from the year where I was too heavily pregnant to get the decorations down from the attic, keeping our hands warm with freshly made sausage rolls on the walk to the crib service, wrapping birthday presents in brown paper and drawing pictures on there front with as clue to there contents, the family pizza and TV night which started off as Buffy and pic'n'mix night when DH and I were students, the ridiculously practical birthday gift (bin, laundry basket) used to hold there treaty of the presents.

@MargaretThursday My mum was big on diary writing, especially for holidays, but I had very mixed feelings about this; it's nice to have them to look back on, but at the time it felt like a chore, like school work in holidays. Before I could do the writing myself, she did it, writing in the first person from my point of view. She'd often write how I felt about things, and she wasn't always correct with this! 🙄I remember also a school realisation that school trips were always followed by having to write about them.

I've occasionally tried diary writing as a teenager and young adult, but I found that although the writing could be therapeutic, I never actually enjoyed reading them back; I preferred to keep the memories of them in my head. So diaries are not for everyone.