what family traditions have you started?

[BaffledByBabyTights]

I went on a parenting course which siad it was a good idea to start at elast one new tradition just for your family which the children will remember affectionately when they have their own children. We have started haveing croissants as breakfast in bed (all 5 of us) on every family birthday. I wondered if anyone else had any that I could copy??!!

pinched a few from here well the christmas eve new pj's for one.

last day of summer holidays going for family day out to seaside (hoping to do that one this year)

buying a lovely expensive christmas tree decoration for each child and then when they grow up and have their own house and tree they have special ones from home.

can't think of any others off to bed

OOh, I'll be watching this thread. The idea of family traditions appeals to me, but being single mum I sometimes feel unable to keep them up.
At my sister's house, when a child has a birthday, they get to sit on a 'throne' at breakfast time (other meals too if it lasts). This said throne is just a chair decorated wih balloons and a glittery throw over it or something.
I suppose there are certain things we do on a regular yearly basis - blackberry picking in Aug or Sept. Making Elderflower cordial in May.
Can't wait to see some other ideas too...

we just picked the elderfower yesterday for that!!! My mum brought me up alone, and I have a lot of fond memories of that - which is meant as encouragement for you.

Going to buy he christmas tree is a bit of a tradition with us. We always go as a family to the local tree farm and choose a tree together. Actually, I choose the tree, by getting dh and various staff members to stand holding the trees and turning them slowly so that I get just the one I want! Once we've chosen it we usually hang around for mulled wine and mincepies. Then its home, where dh puts it in the stand and then he leaves. Xmas cd goes on and sherry comes out! Me & dd decorate. She's getting good at it now, 'less is more mummy!' she says!

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nay nay lass - if I didn't think of these things, nothing would ever happen in our house.

Now she's just about big enough, we'll have a flower box or part of the garden which is dd's every year - she'll get to pick the flowers for, plant (with help for now) and look after that bit.

We have an Easter tree each year - I spent some of my childhood in Germany where it's trad practice - involves decorating budding twigs with wee wooden eggs, chicks etc, celebration of new life. Also love going to the dawn service on Easter Sunday, dd came this year in her pj's and loved having breakfast with everyone afterwards.

We're another family who do new pj's Christmas eve - mainly coz I love pj's and any excuse! We always open our stockings altogether in our bed before going down for breakfast Christmas morning.

Looking fwd to adding new ones as time goes on esp with baby no2 on the way in just under 3 wks.

No, I think Cods right. I didn't mentally start ours, it was just after a couple of years doing it, it became tradition.

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there is always a letter handwriiten by santa thanking them for being good and for the mince pie.mentioning something about each child in turn and it always says hes off to their cousins house next.its always signed your friends santa and rudolph and i always read it out to video camera before we go through to do presents.i think its dead special and i always want to cry thinkin about it (flamin hormones!)

not naff to start one how else do they become traditions? It's all about what you like to do what you find fun if everyone enjoys it then before you know it it's tradition

I hide easter eggs in back garden so easter bunny has been I know a bit american but great craic to watch them hunt for eggs.

trying to get into scrapbooking to record all the things you forget and make me print off photo's from computer. ye right one of these days i will be organised enough.

Probably will get badly judged for this, but here it goes:

When DD was born, I bought a ring and had DD's name and birth date in it. I wear it for now and intend to hand it over to her when she is 25 or when she gets married. I'd like to think she will pass it on to her own daughter but maybe she will just lose it, so it might not really survive to be a family tradition.

Saturday is pancake morning. Children come in to our bed and we stick a dvd on, and daddy makes the pancakes whilst we cosy, play, run back and forth. Daddy brings the pancakes and we all eat together.

Birthdays you always get woken up with a Danish birthday song, been that way since I was small.

Ohh, and the night before my husband goes anywhere he always play "My Girl" and we cuddly/dance together. Not that he goes away very often, but its tradition.

We have turned into a family that traditionally watches the Simpsons while eating our tea.

We have pancake morning on a Sunday, eaten outside on the picnic table in good weather.

Halloween is pumpkin muffin making day.

Christmas and Easter traditions have been passed down so we have an American/English amalgamation.

This year I'm definitely going to do the new pj's thing in our house they were Christmas Day presents, but much better for Christmas Eve!

Probably other things will appear as DS grows older.

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MIL has come to my parents' for Xmas the last 3 years and it is traditional that on Boxing Day after lunch they have a conversation about how poor they were growing up and what all the dialect words were in their bits of the country.
They have had exactly the same conversation at exactly the same time for 3 years now so it must be a tradition.

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Gonna get killed for this but Snowman night will be enforced in this house on Christmas Eve every year . Better not say too much but I believe that Greensleeves is the head honcho of this one.

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Oh and I love the throne idea !!!!!!!!!!!

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