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Strengthen Family Ties with Rituals, Traditions and Routines

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Create Lasting Memories with Family Traditions, Rituals and Routines

Kids out of control? Is the family stressed to the max? Are you at your boiling point? Take a deep breath. Kids need and want our attention for a reason; for human development. Here are my tips to help your family gain control. Establish routines in your life has the biggest return on achieving lower stress family life.

Recipe for a successful family: Rituals, Traditions, Routines, Structure, and lots of love. Traditions and rituals help to re-inforce your family values and morals. They help give children a sense of belonging and establish structure and routine in their lives.

Just remember this: "RTR"s...rituals, traditions and routines. Have you contributed to your family's RTR's today?

Family Traditions

Your Children Will Thank You.

What do you remember the most about growing up? Do you have a favorite memory? Was there something your family "always" did that was rememberable? I was raised by a single mother. Money was tight and time was short. I don't think my mom had much time to spread around after working long hours, but there are some things that come to mind. My mom would take me down to the river and we would go fishing. I grew up appreciating our times together, however, short.

Another memory I had was going camping. I guess you could say camping was a great family recreation idea for those on a low budget.

We have vacationed at hotels, but I still take my family camping. Yes, sometimes they complain. The complaints are usuallly short lived when they get out into the great outdoors.

One of our "Family Traditions" is to make what I call camping popcorn. We did this while we camped growing up and I make sure to always add this to my list of things to bring. What is it? Jiffy Pop PopCorn. Watching it grow and balloon over the heat, wow, was that exciting, always thinking it was about to explode. My kids, ages, 7, 10 and ll just love this!!

I have talked to a lot of mom's who don't "do camping." They don't like going potty in the outdoors and sleeping on the ground doesn't appeal to them. BAH Humbug! I don't potty in the outdoors or sleep on the ground. There are many options for what I still call "camping." Borrow or rent a camper or trailer. Sleep in a Yurt at a Public State Park. Those are awesome, warm, and cozy. Many, if not most, State Parks that have camping also have Restrooms and Shower Facilities. Below is a photo my daughter collecting postcards while on a camping road trip.
Mackenzie collecting Postcards

Rituals

Establishing Rituals Into Your Childrens Lives

Rituals. What are they and why do we need them? Rituals in your childrens lives can be one of the most important things in keeping your children balanced. Ritual are free and anyone can start one. You probably already have them and that's great. A common ritual in our family is bathtime then off to bed with a story.

My daughter, age 11, really likes the "ritual" of me coming into her bedroom after she has already tucked herself in. This is our alone and quiet time. Time where there is no sibling interuptions. I just sit on her bed, giving her all my attention. We talk about friends, school, homework, things she is reading, books and magazines she wants to read, what the weather will be tomorrow, and what the schedule is for everyone in the family the next day.

RTR'S- RITUALS, TRADITIONS, ROUTINES

Here are some ideas of Family RTR's. Start at ANY age and You don't have to be elaborate.

Rituals are an established practiced or pattern of behavior regularly performed in a set manner. Routines are Free and EASY start. Rituals are things, events, chores, that you do on a regular basis. Making your bed in the morning is an example of a good ritual to start your children learning.
  • Sing a song together...we like to sing, "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore"...using our family names in place of Michael.
  • Ask your toddler to recite a recipe to you. This is really funny. For Example: Ask your child "How to Bake a Cake." Write down on piece of paper or 3X5 index card. Save this for your memory album. Some of the funny things they say for how to cook will be like, 1 teaspoon of flour, and 20 eggs, 1 cup of salt and bake (ask what degree to bake at) 90degrees for 10 hours.
  • Take the dog for a walk around the driveway every evening.
  • "wash" window where they can reach.
  • Put away the silverware.
  • Snuggle with mom or dad in the morning.
  • Set out bowls, spoon, and cereal for morning breakfast.
  • Have child draw a picture of your friends and label. Keep a three ring binder for these treasures. My seven year old boy really likes looking back on his drawings.
  • Always have your children sign their name and date every precious artwork. They get practice writing their name.
  • While carrying infants up stairs or down, always count while going up or down. "1 -2 - 3- 4"....learning to count. RITUAL
  • Make your favorite snack together. Learning things in the kitchen your future son-in-law/daughter-in-law will thank you.
  • Establish a bed time. These vary according
    to age and parenting work schedule. ROUTINE
  • Start a journal.
  • Take a picture of your child in their favorite outfit before giving away. Save for baby-book or scrapbooking.
  • Eat your meals together and eat at the table. ROUTINE
  • Take Family Christmas photo...use the timer for this one. RITUAL
  • Have Fun in the Sun. RITUAL
    fun
  • Shampooing and running in the sprinklers.
    Kids playing in shampoo
  • Movie Night with Popcorn and Rootbeer Floats. Yum! RITUAL
  • Start a collection. Our family collects: rocks, postcards, and key chains from places visited.

Make a Family Memory at Disneyland in Anaheim, California

My kids were 6, 9, and 10 when we went.

Photobucket
By far, every parents obligation, to take your family to Disneyland. We stayed at the Original Disneyland Resort Hotel on the Grounds of Disneyland. Staying here allowed us "Early Entry" into the park. A full hour ahead of the general public. And, boy this hour made a huge difference. The rooms were great at this hotel and the Pirate Theme Pool was even better. This is walking distance into the actual "gates" into the park. Monorail is right here also.
Photobucket

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Read More About Family Traditions

Links on the World Wide Web

I encourage you to read more about the subject of family traditions and importance of tradition to your children.
The Cute Kid.com-Family Traditions
1. Family tradition ideas can makes family life predictable. In a world where life is often unpredictable having a family ritual helps make life more secure for both parents and children.
2. Creating new family tradition & rituals give families a chance to reconnect and share their lives.
3. A family identity is formed through rituals. By establishing family traditions & rituals we give children an identity, a group to belong to, and a sense of who they are.
4. Family rituals teach children values. Children learn what their parents value by the rituals that are observed such as attending church, giving service, and visiting elderly relatives. Rituals give children a set of values that they can take into adulthood and use in their own families.

Written by Teresa of the CuteKid Staff
I Village- Being a Mom
Family rituals are a fantastic way to bring closeness to a family, no matter how busy respective members may be.
Stop Being Tired
If you would like to know why you are so tired and how to get the energy back into your life, then read this entire article.
Smilebox.com
Create and share photo and movie scrapbooks online and in print.

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Books On the Subject of Parenting

Family Traditions

In her book "Everyday Opportunities for Extraordinary Parenting" author Bobbi Conner gives some suggestions of events that can be transformed into family holidays. Her suggestions include:

First day back at school.
First day of summer vacation.
Family pets birthday.
Report card celebration.
Annual family walk on the first day of spring (rain or shine).
Family and friends monthly dinner (each month one family member gets to invite one or more friends over for dinner).
Ancestor night (have one night a month where you celebrate the life of an ancestor).

The key thing is to just establish family traditions or rituals and then do them. It will establish family identity, teach values, and provide a great time to reconnect and strengthen your family relationships.
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mystic_junction

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Mom of three and wife.  Stay at home.  Love photography and gardening.  I volunteer at the kids school and take swimming lessons... more »

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