Creating a New Holiday Tradition

Traditions are a big part of our holidays. In many families today, we are brought up to believe that our holiday traditions are not only historical, but also set in stone.  Just the very idea of changing these long-held traditions is considered treasonous. 

But things have changed over time. We may not always be able to uphold those holiday traditions. Instead, we either have to adapt them to our new lifestyles or change them altogether. 

Listen in to learn a few reasons that can support the necessity of changing holiday traditions, and some fun ways to create new ones!

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Transcript

Traditions. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines them as “an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior”. Their definition also says they are a belief or story relating to the past that are commonly accepted as historical though not verifiable.” In many families today, we are brought up to believe that our holiday traditions are not only historical, but also set in stone. 

Just the very idea of changing these long-held traditions is considered treasonous. But things have changed over time. Generations of families rarely live close to one another – much less in the same household or on the same property. We now live in different cities, states, and sometimes countries. Rather than a single income family, we have two income families. And in many cases, a husband, wife, or both have part time jobs just to make ends meet. 

Or you may live close to your family, but other issues come into play. Your job may require you to work on holidays. If you are like us, you may live on a farm where caring for animals can curtail the amount of time you are away from home. 

Family members may have passed away, and new generations are growing older. Health issues start coming into play. In all of these cases, you may no longer be in a position to uphold long-standing traditions. 

But then it begs the question, do we try to uphold the old traditions, even if it is becoming more and more difficult to do so? Or do we start searching for new ones to take their place?

Having traditions is a good thing. It gives continuity to life. They bring comfort and add a sense of belonging. It helps you to remember the hardships and good times of your life – and the lives of your family, ancestors, and even your friends. In many cases, traditions give you something to look forward to. 

Many of the traditions we have revolve around the holidays. For me, I looked forward to Christmas. Not just for the presents, but also because of the traditions we had. The first one was called ‘The Santa Claus Tree’. Because of the large number of family members who celebrated Christmas together, the Santa Claus tree was established when my sister and cousin were very young. 

The Santa Claus tree was an artificial tree, set up in a separate room from the ‘Main’ tree, and decorated on Christmas Eve. The next morning, Santa Claus left his share of the gifts under that tree. For well over 35 years, that tradition carried through as more kids were added to the family. 

The second Christmas tradition was Christmas Breakfast. After we took the time to see what Santa had brought, we all trooped to Aunt Dot’s house for the traditional feast of scrambled eggs, ham, bacon, sausage, cheese grits, and cheese biscuits with an assortment of home canned jams and jellies. 

As we grew older, family members passed on. The children had grown up and started lives of their own. The Country Boy had the same issues in his family. It was time for us to create holiday traditions of our own. 

One of the first new traditions for us was at Thanksgiving, which we called the ‘Orphan Thanksgiving’.  Although a few family members attended, we also set plates for those who had nowhere else to go. We invited neighbors and friends who would otherwise be alone on the holiday.

For Christmas, the Country Boy and I started the ‘Hush’ tradition and became Secret Santas. We kept our eyes and ears open throughout the year, and when we learned of someone who was struggling, sick, or otherwise alone, we slipped in and out with boxes of food, books of encouragement, or gifts that were practical as well as fun.

When your old traditions no longer work for you, it may be time to start new ones. The first step is to determine what it is about a particular holiday you love.  Is it the people? The food? The activities? Look for ways you can center your new traditions around those.

In my case, it is mostly about people first, food second.  For Thanksgiving, the food was a given. But who to invite?  Family, of course.  But then I learned of two friends who had nowhere to go.  So, I invited them.  

Another friend was overseas in the Military.  Without thinking twice, we added a place setting for him, and called it our ‘Gratitude’ setting.  It kept our Military men and women in the front of our minds. And this was how our Orphan Thanksgiving got started. 

Another thing to consider is to keep it simple. Sometimes people get a little too overwhelmed with trying to make every holiday picture perfect and they forget to have fun. One way to help ease that stress is to create some fun and easy holiday traditions that are relatively stress-free and easy to do.

If you want to start new holiday traditions and need a few ideas, try some of these:

Start a New Tradition with Photos. Take photos of friends and family.  Print them out.  For Thanksgiving, give each person their photo, and ask them to write on the back what they are thankful for this year.  Once you have gathered them back up, have them laminated. 

Every year after, use the photos as place cards. Then take a new one. As each year passes, place the oldest photos in an album, and leave it on a table so everyone can enjoy. 

You can also use this same idea for New Year’s.  Just have everyone write their main resolution on the back.  Next year, see how well they did! 

Another way to use photos is to take extras at each holiday and use them for Christmas ornaments. Cut frames out of construction paper or make them with Popsicle sticks.  Decorate them with glitter.  

When the frames are dry, glue a photo to the back and attach a hook. Hang them on the tree. (This is a great craft idea you can do with the kids – or, have each person make their own ornament at Thanksgiving!)

If you want your tradition to be a bit more active, create a Scavenger Hunt. This works great for any holiday or gathering. Prepare ahead of time by making up clues.  Each clue will lead to another, until the Grand Prize is found.

You can also do this in groups.  Give each group the first clue, then let them start hunting.  If you do groups, color code the clues and send them in different directions. The first group to reach the Grand Prize gets to claim it! 

For instance – out here, we use two colors. One color may lead to the chicken coop, while the other color leads to the greenhouse.  From there, we continue with different locations, until the final clue leads directly to the Grand Prize.

Clues can be handwritten (but still cryptic).  You can also use pictures that are hand-drawn or cut from magazines.  If we chose to do that, we may use a picture of an egg for the first group’s clue, and a seedling for the second.

The prizes can be simple.  A bag of candy, dollar store items (like bubbles and a huge pair of sunglasses).  Just make it fun and simple.

A third new tradition idea is to do some type of drawing. Drawings are always fun.  As each guest arrives, have them write their name on a slip of paper.  Between the meal and dessert, draw a name.  Give the winner a prize.  The prize can be just a plate of cookies or a dessert to take home, or maybe a Christmas ornament.

Or you could take it a step further.  Instead of a name, have them write down something a bit obscure about themselves.  Pull one out and see who can guess who wrote it. If they guess correctly, they get a small prize. If no one guesses, the one who wrote it gets the prize. 

A favorite tradition I used to have was called Cookie / Shopping Day. No.  I am sorry, you don’t get to go shopping for cookies.  Instead, host the children in the family for a cookie baking day. This is perfect for Christmas.  First, the parents get to go shopping for those little ones, and each family gets cookies to take home.

This was a tradition when my children were small.  My friend Becky had three boys. Around 9:00 one morning, Becky would drop her kids off.  From there, it was bedlam.  

Cookies were baked by the children. Yes. Flour went everywhere.  My kitchen was a disaster. But I didn’t care. There was enough laughter and fun in that one day to last for a long time. To this day, our grown kids (who now all have families of their own) remember those times. Nick even recently suggested I start it up again and host his kids so Nick and his wife can escape…um…I mean, go shopping.

For this tradition, the best cookie to use are sugar cookies.  Once the cookies are baked and cooled, cover your table with a plastic tablecloth.  Line the center with bowls of colored frosting and jars of cookie decorations.  Other than a little supervision (and help for the younger ones), this is something the kids can do on their own.

I will warn you about one drawback to this tradition.  We moved probably five years after the children grew up and the tradition was abandoned.  As we pulled a piece of furniture away from the wall, I looked down and found several colored balls of cookie decorations.  I think that was the year Nick started a food fight, and James and Jonathan retaliated.  That tradition was a mess, but one filled with happy memories!!!

You can also center a new Tradition around food. Some of us look forward to eating Grandma’s pumpkin pie, or Aunt Dot’s hot rolls.  Between those rolls and Sweet Potato Pie, there may be an uprising if they weren’t available at our holiday gatherings.  But we also use our holidays to try something new and different.

This year, ask each person to bring at least one new and different item.  Assign them a category or ask them which category they prefer.  Have them also bring the recipe, so those who love it can make it themselves during the rest of the year.

Are you in a position of needing to let old traditions go, but still want the comfort and sense of belonging having traditions create? Then maybe it’s time to start new ones. Whether they are simple, like photos, drawings, or a recipe swap, or a bit more engaging such as a Scavenger Hunt or Cookie/Shopping Day, new traditions can be fun. They can also add some freshness and anticipation to your holiday season. 

But if Cookie Shopping Day is one of your choices, keep a mop handy. It’s a good way to get the flour off the ceiling.

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