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Fall is here, and thus begins the time many families begin preparations for the many holidays peppered throughout the next several months.
If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m a bit of a non-conformist, and I don’t celebrate many of the conventional holidays. However, our family has crafted many of its own traditions and rituals, all rife with meaning for us.
With new children in our family, I look forward to sharing these new traditions and rituals. It is a great way to build memories with them that are unique to our family. Additionally, because they will offer their input, we gain new perspectives and see things in new ways.
Because we have children in our family that endure painful medical treatments, we have a special day to celebrate their courage. This day is a very special day filled with a trip somewhere that has special meaning to the child, and treats associated with the trip as souvenirs and reminders of how much their bravery is appreciated.
We have a completely made up holiday that includes a song composed by my husband (that everyone sings together), and includes gifts each day over a set period of time.
We also have added our own unique spin on a traditional holiday as well. Each year for Thanksgiving, we trace a “turkey hand” to measure growth from last year. Additionally, we cut out construction paper leaves of various Fall colors. Each family member takes a stack of leaves and writes things for which s/he is thankful for over the year. Then, we each take turns picking leaves and reading them out loud.
Taking time to create family traditions and rituals give children lasting memories, and are excellent ways to personalize your family. I often have difficulty finding cards or gifts that express what I want to convey, so I end up making my own. For adoptive families, particularly trans-racial or trans-cultural ones, creating or blending traditions and rituals help your children to identify with others in the family and connect.
If you don’t feel especially creative, here are some resources that may help rouse your muse:
The Book of New Family Traditions: How to Create Great Rituals for Holidays and Everydays
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Celebrating a courage day, awesome idea. Our family has moved towards emphasizing Thanksgiving as well. It’s a lot less commercialized, gets overlooked in general. Makes it perfect for our family, then we downplay the commercial aspects of Christmas and focus on the other stuff.