Are you searching for ways to make new family traditions? Use these tips to help you create innovative customs that will strengthen the bonds between you, your partner, and your children. Allow these new rituals to complement your traditional religious practice, as we do in our family. Try these uplifting family rituals now.
Start an Appreciation Day
Turn any day into Appreciation Day. Ask each member of your family to buy, make, or find a small trinket for every other family member. The gift symbolizes why you appreciate the other person and what makes him or her special. Find a lovely seashell for a family member whose beauty you want to acknowledge. Or a kite, which could symbolize how a family member makes you feel you can reach new heights. Then invite everyone to say a few words of appreciation about each person and present the gifts.Shake Up Your Routine
Start a new family tradition right at home. On Valentine's Day, have family members make homemade "Guess Who" Valentine's cards for one another. For Christmas or Hanukkah, do a secret gift exchange to emphasize the giving, not the getting. One gift for each person, and that's all. Celebrate half-birthdays with a walk in the woods or somewhere special to watch the sunset. On every first Sunday of the month, do a family charity project.Make a 'Just Because' Cake
You can celebrate life with your children with a "Just Because" Cake. Use a favorite family recipe or a recipe from a time-honored cookbook and invite your children to give reasons why you're making a "Just Because" cake. "Just because...I love you." Or "Just because...today is a gift and we are together." You can make a "Just Because" cake and then blow out the candles. Just because your family wants to celebrate being alive!Snuggle Up Together
A cozy bedtime ritual is the perfect way to bookend the day. Try snuggling up with your children to give them that important hug before going to sleep. You can use this time to chat, relax, read out loud, and then share with your children your favorite nighttime prayer. It can be as simple as "Thank You, God, for this day." Make those six words a routine, and they will last your children's lifetime.Leave Home for the Holidays
Make your holidays more meaningful by going away on a family trip. By leaving the familiar, you learn to refresh holiday times. You can avoid the commercialization of December, for example, by getting away to a simpler place. Invite a family member who lives alone to go with you, showing your children what's really important.Have a Weekly Gratitude Meal
Have one very special meal every week. It could be Friday evening, Saturday brunch, or Sunday lunch but be consistent. Have each family member help make a special dish that you don't have time to make on the other days of the week. Use cloth napkins, a table cloth, a floral arrangement, and your best dishes. During the meal, invite family members to share something that happened during the past week that they are grateful for.Follow the Moon
Step outside for a few minutes every night for one month to follow the moon. Begin when there's a new moon. Ask your children to find it in the sky. Then say a simple prayer of renewal--"Like the moon, we each have a chance to be reborn each month. One day at a time, we grow stronger and stronger." As the moon reflects the sun's light, ask God to help you reflect the love of your family. By the time you witness the full moon, you all will feel a sense of revitalization.Thank the Dead
It might sound odd, yet it's important to stay connected to our past. Invite your children to speak directly to a loved one who has passed away. If you have a photograph, lay it in the middle of the table. Then ask family members to speak about how the deceased person impacted their lives. You can also remind your children that we are all spiritual beings. It's the outer body that dies--but not the inner soul.Learn About Other Spiritual Traditions
You can encourage your children to respect other traditions. Take them to visit a local mosque, church, or synagogue once a year. Ask a clergyperson to speak to your children about spiritual beliefs you all share. Place a "hamsa," a Middle Eastern symbol of good luck used by all three faiths in the Middle East, in your kitchen. Learn a new concept from Buddhism together. Try a family yoga class. Explain to your children that every religion contains truth, and because there are so many people on the planet, there are many different roads to God.Join Hands
Before you dig into family dinner, join hands with everyone at your table for a moment of silence. Pray for love, understanding, and unity. Then pass the spark of love from one person to the next. You start by squeezing the hand of the person on your left. That person then squeezes the hand of the person on his or her left until you go around the table, sharing the common joy.
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