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Making our own family traditions

My family has a few holiday traditions, mostly involving food.

With my little boy, William, being two-and-a-half, he is becoming familiar with family gatherings involving cake, ice cream, candles or gifts (mostly open availability to popcorn and chips, let’s be honest).

I’ve been stumped at how to make my own family traditions. We are fortunate enough to live within a two-hour driving distance of my family, so have been piggy-backing on what we have been doing for years.

On Thanksgiving, this includes Thanksgiving breakfast followed by shooting pumpkins, a trip to Starbucks, and, of course, a classic American Thanksgiving dinner.

My husband’s family, though Italian, has a similar Thanksgiving dinner spread. They may include lasagna, which I think is a fantastic idea to bestow upon my family.

At Christmastime, due to family expansions and schedules, the bulk of gift-opening occurs Christmas Eve. Then, we attend a small service at my family’s church and have dinner. On Christmas day, we have breakfast together and open gifts from our stockings, then gather later for dinner.

All of this is fine, but I don’t think it’s necessarily exciting or overly memorable for an impressionable toddler.

I got to thinking about what William likes that could relate to winter holidays. Though he is a little young to understand holidays, I decided to experiment.

During the fall in Pennsylvania, leaves cover the ground. This would make for a great craft opportunity, right?

My idea was to make a leaf mobile.

I got William outside to collect leaves for our mobile. Unfortunately, he was hesitant to explore the yard because of a small snake we encountered weeks ago. Then, he found walnut seeds, which strongly resemble balls…need I say more?

So, a leaf craft tradition isn’t in our history books just yet.

When my sister and I were very young, we made cookies with our oldest sister, so I used that as a starting point.

I started preparing the ingredients for eggless cookies (William is a spoon-licker), and he immediately sprinted over to assist me.

He had a great time adding the dry ingredients to the bowl, and figured out how to turn the stand mixer on its highest setting.

William also made sure all the cookie dough balls were touched before being placed in the oven.

William was very interested and entertained by baking cookies, so this is a holiday tradition I can say I have begun in 2018. As William matures, we can start using recipes with eggs, as well as make cookies that require decoration.

Another holiday tradition I thought would be fun to start is to get matching pajamas for the three of us. I read that families typically present the pajamas Christmas Eve, and wear them until after gifts on Christmas.

I searched many online stores for the perfect design and price, and finally settled on a set that features dogs skiing. William will love pointing out the dogs, I’m sure.

My family was not silly in the matching-pajamas-sense, so this will be a fun tradition for just my group.

For a few years, my immediate family traveled to Florida for Christmas. When there, we would drive through big neighborhoods that were known for their displays of Christmas lights. We do not do that in Pennsylvania.

Now that I know William’s interests include seeing decorative lights, I plan to reignite the “driving to see Christmas lights” tradition, but this time in Pennsylvania.

I also acquired a snow suit and snow boots for William. As kids, my siblings and I made a snowman whenever there was enough snow. William is drawn to snowmen, so I plan to continue this tradition with him this year, given there is adequate snowfall.

When we were young, my family went to pick out a pine tree at a local tree farm to take home and decorate. Eventually, as it turned into a task with vacuuming and disposal, we switched to a plastic tree. My mother still invites my siblings and me to choose hang our own ornaments from our collections.

An ornament collection is a tradition I will pass down to William. My siblings and I receive an ornament each Christmas, and now William does, too.

The opportunity to choose what past and new holiday traditions best match William’s interests is developing as he grows mentally.

It is an unknown path for me, but it is proving to be a delightful experience.

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