Passing on traditions

[kimblebee]

My grandpa used to have a garden in his back yard. Not gigantic, but big enough that he could grow some corn, and carrots, and potatoes, and Swiss chard, and zucchini, and maybe some tomatoes.

All four of us grandkids were always called over on harvest day because the best part was laughing at the funny carrots. Some would be massive, some would be tiny, and some would be straight up mutant. Even as we got older, we’d love when he’d bring his bounty to Sunday supper so we could get a chuckle.

My sister has a garden and she now plants various vegetables with, of course, carrots.
I cackled at this years bunch and so did my daughter. Her kids helped dig them up and they rolled around laughing so hard.

I love that this is a tradition because it’s so simple, and so pure, and doesn’t need a whole to do. It’s just carrots that look like worms, and carrots that twist and curl.

Do you have any silly traditions that are being passed on to your kids?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

That's cute! I can think of a few right now, I'm sure there are more...

We get blueberry bagels from Dunkin Donuts and eat them plain on our way to the airport, with coffee, before every Disney trip. I think this started years ago when we happened to get blueberry bagels one morning before a trip and it somehow just stuck. We actually look forward to it now! In our immediate family we also often celebrate birthdays and anniversaries with dinner in the North End (of Boston, for Italian food).

In my family we have to have Brigham's ice cream with holiday meals. Brigham's is a Boston-area tradition and my sister worked there when she was young, so it became ingrained in our family. Other ice creams just won't do!

In DH's famiiy we always take a walk around a big cranberry bog after dinner; weather doesn't matter (unless it's impassible), and everyone's included - dogs, babies, children, girlfriends/boyfriends, whoever is there is welcome to come. It's not unusual to have a dozen or more people and during the course of the lengthy walk you walk with different people so you always get to have one on one conversations with everybody, and it's nice. In summer people might go fishing in the bogs, too. I have a lot of pics of my kids when they were little catching striped bass there (catch and release).

 

[PollyannaMom]

Lucky Charms sundaes (parfaits?) for breakfast on St. Patrick's Day!

Also, when DS was little, we used to go blueberry picking every summer. We'd read "Blueberries for Sal" and he'd take a little pail just like in the book. I hope he does the same thing with his kids someday.

 

[RangerPooh]

Growing up we had more traditions than we do now. 4 years ago we moved from a rural community on the opposite side of the country from where we are currently residing. We had a tradition where every summer we'd go berry picking down by the river, and in the fall we'd pick apples and press cider at a local farm. Plus we'd always attend the local pumpkin patch at the university ag farm. Pumpkins and apples would kick off our fall/winter festivities. I miss those days.

 

[indimom]

Make biscuits and chocolate gravy on Christmas morning. It's too evil to eat more than once or twice a year.
When the kids were young, we had the annual lighting of the outdoor nativity at Grandma's house before Christmas. I have the nativity now but haven't put it up in years. I might bring back the tradition when I have grandkids of my own.
Stockings for the grandkids (under18) at the family Christmas party. Each family bought a small gift for each kid and we filled a stocking for them. It was fun and creative because gifts had to be under five dollars. Some of those were the best gifts if the night, and the kids lived it.
Pumpkin picking in October.
Cookie baking in December.
Singing in the community choir at sunrise on Easter morning, followed by breakfast in the church basement.
Walking to "the candy store" for penny candy when the kids had a good week. It's gone now. But they sure loved picking out their little treats and carrying their own little bag home.

 

[DLgal]

My family didn't really have any traditions, but the family I have made with my husband and sons has a bunch of them. Grew out of our autistic boys' need for routines and sameness, but turned into nice traditions that we have kept up over time.

We decorate our house for Christmas, including the tree, the day after Thanksgiving and watch the Elf movie.

We do gingerbread houses and Christmas cookie decorating on Christmas Eve.

We go to Dunkin Donuts for donuts and milk on our way to the airport when we go on vacation.

We have a silly tradition on birthdays where, after the birthday person blows out the candles, they get up and run away from the table.

We go to the Hallmark store on ornament debut weekend in October and everyone picks out one ornament that represents their personality or current interest. It's a fun little timeline to see how those have changed for the kids over the years. DH and I always pick out a "Disney couples" themed ornament, which we started the year we got married.

 

[kdonnel]

I read the title wrong.

I thought it was going to be about passing on (ignoring) traditions.

That is what I want to start doing.

We have been doing the same thing for Thanksgiving for all 25 years my wife and I have been married. It involves a 13 hour round trip drive to spend 45 minutes to an hour with my wife's side of the family. 20-30 people get together for a pot luck but don't really get together. Each family sits with their own family instead of with the uncles, aunts, and cousins they don't get to see very often. The older aunts start cleaning up before everyone has even finished eating and then when everyone is done eating they just get in their cars and leave.

I want to start new traditions but we can't until the older generation finally dies.

 

[LSUmiss]

I read the title wrong.

I thought it was going to be about passing on (ignoring) traditions.

That is what I want to start doing.

We have been doing the same thing for Thanksgiving for all 25 years my wife and I have been married. It involves a 13 hour round trip drive to spend 45 minutes to an hour with my wife's side of the family. 20-30 people get together for a pot luck but don't really get together. Each family sits with their own family instead of with the uncles, aunts, and cousins they don't get to see very often. The older aunts start cleaning up before everyone has even finished eating and then when everyone is done eating they just get in their cars and leave.

I want to start new traditions but we can't until the older generation finally dies.

Lol! I did too about misreading the title.

 

[RUDisney]

My kids still help me bake Christmas cookies every year. We make about 13-15 different types of cookies to pass along to our friends and family.

We have always had homemade pierogies on Christmas Eve for dinner. I took over making them about 7 years ago when my sister was sick and my parents were always with her, helping her and her DH. I'm embarrassed to say that my mother hates fish. She grew up in a house where my grandmother didn't know how to make fish taste good, or not stink up the house, so she always hated it. We grew up on Mrs. Paul's fish sticks. Even though my sister and I have tried to introduce her to real fish, she insists that the only kind she likes now is Long John Silvers. We have to have that every Christmas Eve at her house. My sister and I still bring "real" fish, but only a little because the rest of the kids and siblings don't like much fish, either. This is a tradition that I could do without. I'd be more than happy to make the fish for everyone, but I pass on that fish and everyone else is happy.

My niece is all about traditions. If her mother did something in a particular way, it must be done like that forever. It drives her father crazy sometimes, but he goes with it, because she is 15 and lost her mother when she was 10.

 

[scrhsa]

My dd makes cinnamon rolls. Well, more like a loaf. My Grandmother used to make them. My Dad made them. I made them. Now she does. And all my girls like to use my Dad's philosphy when it comes to cooking and recipes. His motto was "give it a try, you might find something great". Which was in regards to not following the recipe and throwing whatever you want into it

 

[PigletsPal2]

Our traditional holiday meals are steamed shrimp on Christmas Eve and lasagna on Christmas Day.

Our other traditions are that no one can buy for themselves any books, music, or movies after October 1. If we want one of these, they go on the Christmas wish list with the hope that someone buys it for them.

We exchange Christmas wish lists about the middle of October. Mine always starts with "a honkin' big bookstore gift card."

DD#1 and I both belong to web sites where we earn points, sometimes just for reading an email, and we "buy" many of our gifts with these points. One year when DH was still working as a contractor in Washington, DC, he earned enough hotel reward points that I was able to buy $600 worth of gift cards for Christmas.

Our Christmas stockings usually are filled with practical stuff, but there's always at least one goofy gift. One year everyone literally got coal in their stockings.

My favorite tradition is silly tags. For example, one year my DD#2 was learning to cook so she thought the gift for her from "The Barefoot Contessa" was Ina Garten's latest cookbook. It was actually a pair of slippers. (She did get the cookbook but from someone else with a goofy name.)


Queen Colleen