My Focus on Family Life and Parenting

Memories and Family Practice

Call it your family tradition, ritual, or practice. Traditions that families do together can act as a thread to weave them closer to each other. When effort is exerted to uphold and continue doing these activities, the more meaningful these tradition can be and the more treasured they become among family members.

Memories are then build of the treasured moments spent together. In some families, it can take the form of going on trips during weekends or holidays, celebrating occasions, cooking or baking together, engaging in sports, telling stories, and the list could go on. In contrast, changes in the family’s routine or usual practices may possibly indicate changes in family structure and even breakdown in communication or conflict between members.

There is a certain security and warmth that emanates from being with family and doing a specific activity together at a specific time. Strong ties may result from these practices and the same traditions may be handed on from one generation to the next. In families who love cooking and baking, recipes of the older generation are treasured and passed on to the younger ones.

I have a friend whose family books a room at a certain hotel while visiting their extended family for the holidays. They stayed at the same hotel for several years. When my friend one time suggested to try another place, her children were horrified at the thought of breaking their ritual and exclaimed, “But mom, it’s tradition!”