348. How To Be Awesome At Family Traditions
The idea of traditions can feel heavy and like once you do it you’re stuck doing them forever… I wanted to do a fullll podcast episode that would give you lots of ideas that feel light and fun and can be so special to your family. Things that make you all feel more connected… and that feel so unique and important to your family.
It’s easy for parenting to feel like a constant sprint sometimes… school, sports, meals, naps… it’s a refreshing change to lean into special things that your family does. I realized how precious this is when one of my kids wrote a little paper about one of our traditions in 1st grade. You realize… this is the stuff they remember and the resinates deep.
This whole thing is about pausing these busy life days we are all living and thinking about emotional anchors we can create throughout the year.
Traditions don’t have to be rigid. They don’t have to be expensive. And they definitely don’t have to be perfect.
Today we’re talking about a fresh way to think about family traditions:
Some traditions you repeat every year
Some you rotate
Some you try once and just remember
Some you write down so your family builds its own memory playbook
Because what kids remember most isn’t perfection… it’s connection.
HOLIDAY TRADITIONS
The goal here isn’t more pressure. It’s creating emotional anchors in the year.
VALENTINE’S DAY TRADITIONS
Love notes on door
After dinner game
Decorate Valentine boxes & make notes for each other
Secret Santa but Valentine style
Blow up heart with balls and prizes to find inside
Kids serve you dinner on Valentine’s
Kids go out to dinner with you on Valentine’s
HALLOWEEN TRADITIONS
Say Trick Or Treat at the front door on Halloween in Costume
Do family costumes and everyone plans them together
Decorate the inside and/or outside of the house in a certain theme or go all out together
Give out something specific like full size candy bars
Set-up a game for trick or treaters to play to win an extra candy
Pumpkin carving or pumpkin painting - invite everyone over
THANKSGIVING TRADITIONS
Gratitude time capsules, write notes and open them the next year
Family volunteer Saturday
Everyone puts what they are most thankful for in a hat and everyone guesses who said what
Wear “thankful” shirts
Family interview night, record what everyone is most thankful for - especially grandparents
Coloring page to color all day on kids table
CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS
Put lights around your neighborhood on Christmas Eve
Ornament tradition, collecting special ones when you travel or making them
Cutting down or picking out tree together right after thanksgiving
Advent calendars
Reindeer food
Drive to see Christmas lights
Decorate Christmas cookies
Matching PJs
FOURTH OF JULY TRADITIONS
Do something nice for a veteran or someone that helps our country or community
Stop by fire station with breakfast or something nice
USA pride anything - decorate car windows, we do our golf cart
Find neighborhood event at a park or create one
NEW YEAR’S EVE TRADITIONS
Family Vision Board Night
Bang pots and pans
Highlights of the year jar in kitchen- add to it throughout the year and read at end of year
NY planning and goal setting
Write a letter to yourself of what would make you consider next year a big success, if what happened, if you felt like what
Watch the ball drop together with blowers
Plan vacations for the year
BIRTHDAY TRADITIONS (FOR KIDS AND PARENTS)
Birthday breakfast interview... ask the same five questions every year
Go around the table and do full toasts about why you love the bday person
Everyone decorates their room before they wake up
Presents first thing in the morning
Smash cake in the face
One present from each person in the family
One nice thoughtful card from each person in the family
MONTHLY TRADITIONS
One long Sunday dinner with games
New experience day - try one new thing you have never done before
One service project day, or just a few hours
Hike, outdoor long walk together
FAMILY DINNER TRADITIONS
Rose, Thorn, Bud — best part, challenge, what you’re excited about
Theme Dinner Nights with music and food from different countries
THE TRADITION NOTEBOOK IDEA
Instead of forcing traditions to be permanent, create a small family notebook where you write down ideas you tried… funny moments… things you want to repeat someday.
This removes pressure and keeps the magic.
Keep it somewhere easy like kitchen or nightstand.
Traditions evolve as your family grows.
Traditions are not about doing more.
They’re about choosing moments that slow life down… even just a little.
You don’t need to create ten new traditions this year.
You don’t need Pinterest-perfect ideas.
Start with one small thing that feels natural to your family.
Maybe it lasts one year… maybe it becomes something your kids talk about forever.
The real goal isn’t perfection.
It’s creating a feeling… a rhythm… a sense that no matter how busy life gets, your family has small anchors that bring you back to each other.
And over time, those moments become the story of your family.
It’s easy for parenting to feel like a constant sprint sometimes… school, sports, meals, naps… it’s a refreshing change to lean into special things that your family does. I realized how precious this is when one of my kids wrote a little paper about one of our traditions in 1st grade. You realize… this is the stuff they remember and the resinates deep.
This whole thing is about pausing these busy life days we are all living and thinking about emotional anchors we can create throughout the year.
Traditions don’t have to be rigid. They don’t have to be expensive. And they definitely don’t have to be perfect.
Today we’re talking about a fresh way to think about family traditions:
Some traditions you repeat every year
Some you rotate
Some you try once and just remember
Some you write down so your family builds its own memory playbook
Because what kids remember most isn’t perfection… it’s connection.
HOLIDAY TRADITIONS
The goal here isn’t more pressure. It’s creating emotional anchors in the year.
VALENTINE’S DAY TRADITIONS
Love notes on door
After dinner game
Decorate Valentine boxes & make notes for each other
Secret Santa but Valentine style
Blow up heart with balls and prizes to find inside
Kids serve you dinner on Valentine’s
Kids go out to dinner with you on Valentine’s
HALLOWEEN TRADITIONS
Say Trick Or Treat at the front door on Halloween in Costume
Do family costumes and everyone plans them together
Decorate the inside and/or outside of the house in a certain theme or go all out together
Give out something specific like full size candy bars
Set-up a game for trick or treaters to play to win an extra candy
Pumpkin carving or pumpkin painting - invite everyone over
THANKSGIVING TRADITIONS
Gratitude time capsules, write notes and open them the next year
Family volunteer Saturday
Everyone puts what they are most thankful for in a hat and everyone guesses who said what
Wear “thankful” shirts
Family interview night, record what everyone is most thankful for - especially grandparents
Coloring page to color all day on kids table
CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS
Put lights around your neighborhood on Christmas Eve
Ornament tradition, collecting special ones when you travel or making them
Cutting down or picking out tree together right after thanksgiving
Advent calendars
Reindeer food
Drive to see Christmas lights
Decorate Christmas cookies
Matching PJs
FOURTH OF JULY TRADITIONS
Do something nice for a veteran or someone that helps our country or community
Stop by fire station with breakfast or something nice
USA pride anything - decorate car windows, we do our golf cart
Find neighborhood event at a park or create one
NEW YEAR’S EVE TRADITIONS
Family Vision Board Night
Bang pots and pans
Highlights of the year jar in kitchen- add to it throughout the year and read at end of year
NY planning and goal setting
Write a letter to yourself of what would make you consider next year a big success, if what happened, if you felt like what
Watch the ball drop together with blowers
Plan vacations for the year
BIRTHDAY TRADITIONS (FOR KIDS AND PARENTS)
Birthday breakfast interview... ask the same five questions every year
Go around the table and do full toasts about why you love the bday person
Everyone decorates their room before they wake up
Presents first thing in the morning
Smash cake in the face
One present from each person in the family
One nice thoughtful card from each person in the family
MONTHLY TRADITIONS
One long Sunday dinner with games
New experience day - try one new thing you have never done before
One service project day, or just a few hours
Hike, outdoor long walk together
FAMILY DINNER TRADITIONS
Rose, Thorn, Bud — best part, challenge, what you’re excited about
Theme Dinner Nights with music and food from different countries
THE TRADITION NOTEBOOK IDEA
Instead of forcing traditions to be permanent, create a small family notebook where you write down ideas you tried… funny moments… things you want to repeat someday.
This removes pressure and keeps the magic.
Keep it somewhere easy like kitchen or nightstand.
Traditions evolve as your family grows.
Traditions are not about doing more.
They’re about choosing moments that slow life down… even just a little.
You don’t need to create ten new traditions this year.
You don’t need Pinterest-perfect ideas.
Start with one small thing that feels natural to your family.
Maybe it lasts one year… maybe it becomes something your kids talk about forever.
The real goal isn’t perfection.
It’s creating a feeling… a rhythm… a sense that no matter how busy life gets, your family has small anchors that bring you back to each other.
And over time, those moments become the story of your family.