Cultivate Closeness: Family Traditions

My girls could make a tradition out of almost anything. I have to be careful what I start because before I know it, they start asking if it can be a tradition. Taco Tuesday, Pizza & Movie Night Friday, and Spa Day Saturday have all been nixed in our house. I would do these a couple of times and the girls were ready to declare them weekly traditions.

My pocket book and sanity could not handle that many weekly traditions. I do like traditions but they need to be easy which to me means little prep needed and little time to complete.

Brunch

Sunday brunch is our one long lasting weekly tradition. When the girls were younger, it was more work for me to put a full breakfast spread on the table after church on Sundays. I enjoyed being in the kitchen though and it was rewarding to all sit down to a nice meal.

Now that they all three bake, I am just in charge of the bacon and they do the rest. Adelynn bakes either crepes or waffles. Heidi cuts up the fruit and enjoys displaying it nicely. Elyse makes scrambled eggs for all of us. Working in the kitchen together to have a nice Sunday brunch cultivates closeness in our family.

valentine’s day

Simple is key to our traditions around Valentine’s Day. We read the book The Story of St. Valentine and leave a few small gifts and a meaningful note at each girl’s seat at the dinner table.

At dinner, we all crowd around the table to enjoy fondue. We have been having fondue at Christmas for the last 8 years. Fondue has been such a fun experience that a few years ago we served it on Valentine’s Day as well. We do all three courses:

• Broth: Steak, chicken, mushrooms, & potatoes
• Cheese: Bread, broccoli, cauliflower & Granny Smith apples
• Chocolate: Strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, pretzels & cinnamon pound cake

Fondue Must Haves:

• Cuisinart CFO-3SS Electric Fondue Maker
• Dip Into Something Different: A Collection of Recipes from Our Fondue Pot to Yours
• Trader Joe’s Cheese Fondue
• Belgian Milk Chocolate Baking Callets

Puzzles

Winter in the midwest can be unbearably cold with little sunshine. Puzzles have become a winter tradition to combat idleness and cabin fever. We have worked our way up to 1000 piece puzzles. Our dining room table is taken over for a week or so by the puzzle but this prime location also bring us all together to work as a team.

Puzzles with more defined color sections make it so that even our youngest can feel successful and contribute. We have favorite puzzles that we do every year. At the beginning of February, we pull out our Watercolored love puzzle to start out our Valentine’s traditions.

Wrapping up

Traditions help our family make meaningful connections with one another. Sometimes a good idea turns into a tradition because it was so fulfilling and easy. While other times, I put in much time and planning and it is a flop. Most of our traditions are made organically & unintentionally. They just brought us joy so we kept doing them.

What our your Valentine’s Day traditions?