Establish Tradition
Establishing holiday traditions is a way to create a meaningful and joyful holiday celebration. By taking the initiative to develop your family traditions, you will create a lasting activity that will remain within your family. This will add meaning to those at your table, connect family members currently living in other locations and continue to serve as a remembrance of loved ones.
Tradition is defined as “the handing down of information, beliefs and customs from one generation to another.” As a parent, grandparent, aunt or friend — take the initiative to begin a tradition.
Traditions can be established for national, religious, cultural and personal holidays — whatever holiday is special for you. Religious holidays often already have a tradition connected with their celebration. Families may light a special menorah on Chanukah, use a special Sedar plate on Passover and place a stone on a parent’s grave on Mother’s/Father’s Day. However, creating your own tradition is a meaningful way to personalize your chosen holiday.
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Thanksgiving Holiday Tradition
The Thanksgiving holiday is closely tied to the month of November. Thanksgiving is a holiday that does not have strictly regulated traditions, leaving an opening for families to create their own traditions. Therefore, I am using Thanksgiving to demonstrate the creation of a family holiday tradition.
Thanksgiving is a federal holiday that promotes inclusiveness since it combines a sense of history, common values and togetherness. This is a perfect multi-generation holiday when families and friends gather to share a meal. Since schools and federal offices and some businesses are closed, Thanksgiving lends itself to a common time for families and friends to be together.
Make Thanksgiving a joyful and meaningful holiday. Here are a few suggestions to enhance your celebration.
Plan your meal.
1) Invite people to your Thanksgiving meal a few weeks prior to the holiday.
Everyone loves looking forward to a special occasion.
Your guest list should include multi-generations of your family.
Add friends who are alone on the holiday or do not have family in town.
Include your out-of-town family through the use of modern technology, such as meetings on ZOOM.
2) An alternative to hosting Thanksgiving is to volunteer to serve a meal at a social service organization or soup kitchen.
3) Plan a meal with special Thanksgiving dishes,
Make planning simple by sticking with the traditional dishes: roast turkey, store bought dressing mix, canned cranberry sauce, baked sweet potatoes, frozen pumpkin pie. This is an easy and tasty dinner that will not leave you exhausted from preparation. Traditional dishes are included without a lot of preparation time.
If you are a creative cook, go for that special family recipe -homemade dressing, sweet potato casserole, cranberry relish and homemade pumpkin pie are typical recipes in the family recipe file.
A pot-luck dinner among guests shares the preparation and allows each guest to bring their special family dish. These dishes are typically delicious and spread out the preparation.
Use an object that has special meaning. This could be a plate, vase, napkins or candles that were handed down within your family. If you do not have an item, this may be the year to make a purchase at a local craft fair. With your children, you can determine your family’s special item and continue to use it in future years.
Encourage Participation
1) Engage children in a craft decoration project. Children can make original colored place cards, a centerpiece of colored leaves or a painted welcome sign hung on the door. There are also craft kits that contain Thanksgiving projects for children, The important thing is to display at the celebration, whatever children make.
2) Share at the table something for which each person is thankful.
Everyone at your table is called upon to recite a message of thanks.
This creates in everyone the realization that we should not take life for granted. From the oldest to youngest member of family, each person has something for which to be thankful.
Engage in Three Generation Activities
1) After the holiday meal, engage in a multi-generation activity. You may want to walk around the block and greet your neighbors. I love to see groups of people walking together and wishing neighbors a happy holiday.
2) Holidays are a good time to sit together and play a game. Bring out of the closet an old board game. Monopoly, Clue and Dominoes never go out of style. Family members can divide into multi-generation teams for a game of Charades. You can go one step further and write words having to do with the holiday for a twenty-question word game. Multi-generation of family members playing together always results in lots of laughs. The main thing is that everyone participates — no one is left out.
3) Thanksgiving Day also is known for many football games. Often, games are televised and have become part of the Thanksgiving tradition in many households. Since it is always more fun to have a team to cheer, pick a team and become a fan for that day.
Nurture togetherness
The holiday meal should nurture conversation. We want to hear from everyone. You may want to suggest positive talking subjects such as favorite books/movies, admired people, important contributions of century and favorite places visited. To encourage listening to others, establish the rule that cell phones are not brought to the table.
Since we are in an age of technology, use this to enhance, rather than detract, from your celebration. There are many parades across the country on Thanksgiving Day. Parades in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Houston have bands, floats and giant balloons. Some parades, such as the Macy Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, are televised.
Tradition rules the day. As long as families and friends enjoy the day together it becomes a special time. The more traditions that you introduce, the more meaningful the holiday becomes over the years.
Teach Note Writing
Coupled with celebrating the holiday is teaching children to write a thank you note.
A handwritten note is always appreciated. Set an example for your children by writing a thank you to your host or to a guest who brought a special dish or treat. Children can make their own thank you cards with their personal art design. Teach children to express their appreciation by sending a handwritten thank you. This will not only become a tradition, but a habit that will serve them throughout their lives.
Veterans Day Observance
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Veterans Day marks a second meaningful federal holiday during the month of November. Veterans Day will be observed on Tuesday, November 11th. Veterans Day honors all military veterans who have served in the US military. A simple way to engage children is to fly a flag at your home. In addition to flying a flag, participate in the Veterans Day Moment of Silence, a two-minute moment of silence to honor the service and sacrifice of veterans throughout history. Locally, this will take place at 3:11 p.m. Eastern Standard time. The National Veterans Day Observance ceremony will be live streamed from Arlington Cemetery at 11:00 a.m. on November 11th. Families can watch the ceremony together, which includes the color guard, placing a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and playing taps. A personal thank you call to family members, friends and neighbors who have served in the armed forces is appreciated by those of all ages. These solemn activities can be adopted as part of your family’s Veterans Day tradition.
Take the time to create a special tradition within your household. Over time, these traditions become more and more meaningful. Once a family tradition is established, you will delight in knowing that no matter where your family is located, they are celebrating with you and creating lasting memories.
Joan welcomes your comments and ideas.
parentingplus@americanisralite.com
