In this article we will tell you:
- Why are family traditions needed?
- TOP 8 best family traditions
- Introducing a child to family traditions
- Rules for implementing and following family traditions
Every second person finds it difficult to answer why family traditions are needed. If you asked this question, it means you dream of warm weather at home and love spending time with your children and your significant other. Going to the cinema with the whole family, Sunday lunches at grandma's, buying a Christmas tree - all this is stored in the memory and heart for many years and has a beneficial effect on a person's worldview.
We will talk about what traditions exist, how to introduce children to them, and how to inculcate healthy family habits in our article today.
Why are family traditions needed?
Family belongs to the category of such concepts, the meaning of which is difficult to agree on. Of course, the Family Code will give this word a nomenclature definition. But for each person, family is something different, personal. For one, it is a gift from above, a match made in heaven. Another sees marriage as the ideal form for procreation and raising children. And some perceive it as an economic unit of society with a joint budget and a country house. All unions are different, and this dissimilarity in lifestyle and lifestyle is caused not least by the presence of unique family customs.
The natural question is: why are family traditions and customs needed at all? They have developed historically in human communities as a universal tool for transferring knowledge from experienced elders to the younger generation. This is how all kinds of initiation rites arose, when boys and girls, undergoing initiation, became full members of the community. Fathers passed on to their sons the secrets of hunting and cultivating the land, mothers taught their daughters the wisdom of home economics.
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In the modern world, the practical need for such methods of transferring experience and skills has disappeared. We do not inherit the profession of our parents. And any recipe or agricultural technique can be found on the global network.
Today's family traditions are designed to bring family members closer together. For example, a modern teenager can understand the realities of the world around him better than the older generation. But no Internet will tell him the story of his family better than his grandmother, who, having seated her grandson next to her, will open an old album with photographs and tell a fascinating family legend in person. Spending time together on hikes, country trips, and on joint holidays is not necessary for the sake of having fun. Of course, it should bring pleasure, but fun is not the main thing - every family member can find a satisfying hobby. The essence of traditions is informal communication, when relatives cease to be guided by family roles.
In a close-knit family, the responsibilities of all members are well defined: parents earn money, run the household; The children try to study diligently and help around the house. Everything works like a well-coordinated mechanism, but in this automaticity of actions there is a catch. Rigid family roles and the lack of live communication and bright expression cause emotional burnout.
Therefore, it is extremely necessary to be able to reboot relationships within the family. It doesn't matter what activity it is. When everyone plays football together on the lawn, grills kebabs or sets up a tent, a single team is formed. At traditional family holidays, everyone becomes a little bit of a child. Through relaxed and friendly communication, barriers between parents and children are erased. This helps to establish an atmosphere of trust.
Research conducted by psychologists in several countries has confirmed one pattern. Children raised in cultures with strong family traditions show higher socialization skills. Such a child is less likely to experience anxiety from an unfamiliar environment and is better at making contact. He “stands firmer on his feet,” feeling a strong connection with the history and traditions of his ancestors.
TOP 8 best family traditions
In families where there are no traditions, relatives do not live together, but rather occupy the same living space. Leaving their parents' nest, children are in no hurry to visit home - there is little that connects them with their elders, except gratitude for their care. There are no common hobbies, there are no family holidays on which it is customary to gather in a narrow circle. In fact, they have nothing to remember from childhood, except for routine and gray days - there is little that emotionally connects them with their father’s house. To avoid such a degree of alienation between relatives, family traditions should be instilled while children are still small.
One of the most effective ways to strengthen unity between generations is to appeal to family memory. More and more people are interested in genealogical research. Drawing up a family tree clearly demonstrates a person’s pedigree and his connection with his ancestors. The presence of old family albums also has a beneficial effect on the formation of connections. A child, looking at artifacts of a bygone era, yellowed by time, can revive distant ancestors in his imagination.
Family heirlooms, passed down from generation to generation, are another successful example of tradition. Valuables, paintings, and rare books cannot necessarily act as memorabilia. These may be household items that have already lost their practical significance. For example, the plane of my great-grandfather, who worked as a carpenter, or my grandmother’s set of thimbles.
As sad as it is to admit, many traditions have lost their relevance. Commitment to professional dynasties is becoming a thing of the past. But there is a category of customs over which time has no power. Family holidays continue to delight household members as many years ago.
Why do we need family traditions and knowledge about them? You will not be able to fully determine how your family differs from others if you are not able to talk about its customs. From the great variety of traditions, we will highlight the main ones:
- Holiday festivities
These dates in the calendar family year are marked in red - New Year, name days, all kinds of anniversaries. Guests, friends, feast and congratulatory toasts. The established ritual of these celebrations is familiar, but cannot get boring.
- Unplanned reasons for meetings
Marriages, christenings, global shopping. These celebrations are not annual, which is why there is a special attitude towards such events. A joyful occasion is a great opportunity for distant relatives to come. Unfortunately, life also presents tragic reasons for all close people to gather and share the severity of the moment.
Connecting two families and their traditions
When a new family is formed, the family traditions of two different clans are combined into one single whole.
Each of them has different ideas in matters of raising children, family holidays, gifts, their own attitudes towards the financial component, health, healthy lifestyle, sports, nutrition, religion and so on. When starting a family, the future husband and wife must agree in advance on all the above-mentioned issues, even before entering into legal marriage, otherwise disagreements cannot be avoided.
With the birth of a child, everything changes in the family; there is no time for walks under the moon and long evening conversations. For example, in my father’s family it was customary for the whole family to engage in sports, skiing and skating in the winter, and swimming and active outdoor sports in the summer. In the mother’s family there could be other traditions, for example, it was customary to visit exhibitions and museums, become spiritually enlightened, study art and world culture.
How to combine such different traditions of families into one whole?
A tiny child, as soon as he is born, begins to get used to home, to family. And it is so important now to show the baby family unity and cohesion. In order for there to be harmony in the family, you need to consult and discuss pressing problems while sitting at the family table.
The newlyweds at the wedding are wished “Advice and Love”; advice is the union of two loving people. In a family, it shouldn’t be like everyone is on their own. Family is a strength where everyone should be a mountain for each other. Just as it is impossible to break the rods tied together, it is also impossible to break a strong family. And it’s easy to break one twig at a time. If everyone in the family has only their own opinion and does not take into account the interests of other family members, such a family will never be able to become strong and invincible.
Introducing a child to family traditions
The rhythm of life in a modern metropolis sets a high bar for the performance of adults. They must be on time everywhere and stay up to date with current news. At the same time, you look good and leave the impression of positive and cheerful people. It is difficult for a child to adapt to this pace of existence. He doesn’t understand why his parents are enthusiastically scrolling through social media feeds instead of taking him for a walk on the street. Parents sometimes also need to take a break from the daily hustle and bustle and think about global things. A memorable date on the calendar can redirect their attention. Thus, family traditions bring a calming element to the frantic rhythm of the city. Customs make it possible to weigh on the scales of eternity what is important in the life of each person and what is momentary and transitory.
People no longer live in the realities of a traditional family, when three generations were gathered under one roof. Grandparents are now rarely able to see their relatives. Traditions make these meetings more regular.
Early in the morning, all family members rush about their business. During the day, at best, it is only possible to have a short phone call to clarify current issues. In fact, only a family dinner can become a time when the whole family gets together and can just chat. At the table, parents ask their children about how their day went, what new things they learned at school, and who they made friends with. At this moment, the most important thing for children is that mom and dad are nearby, and they are all together. This is why children are so sensitive to the fact that one of the spouses regularly stays late at work and misses psychotherapy sessions at the table.
Every person can become the founder of family traditions. There is no need to be afraid of experiments in this area. Try a new form, and then one of the family rituals will become a tradition that your descendants will proudly carry through time.
It is better to think about family customs while the children are still small. You will have more time to perfect the tradition. And it will be easier for children to join innovations regarding lifestyle changes.
Why are family traditions needed? According to the observations of psychologists, most children in orphanages have problems creating a family. They don't have their own life experience. Not knowing their own parents, they do not have before their eyes an example of the behavior of adult family people. No matter how good an educational institution is, it will not replace a child’s home. Therefore, the modern policy of guardianship authorities is aimed at ensuring that children deprived of parental care are raised in foster or adoptive families.
Kids organically absorb everything that happens around them from early childhood. The manner in which his parents communicate will subsequently become an imperative of behavior for him; the fairy-tale characters from the books that his father and mother read to him will turn into life partners for the coming years. Mom's food will become the standard of culinary art.
How to create traditions in the family?
Start by assessing and analyzing your own family traditions. What do you do for every holiday? For each family member's birthday? Do you have some weekly traditions in your family, such as Sunday lunch or going for a walk before bed?
Make a list of your traditional annual, monthly, weekly tasks, maybe they are your family traditions.
It is best if you discuss all the ideas at a general family council and make a joint decision. By the way, why not make such meetings a tradition, say, on Friday evenings, when all family members gather over a cup of freshly brewed tea and a box of their favorite chocolates and tell each other about the past week, their achievements and victories, and share problems and plans for the future?
Or you can start a tradition of greeting Saturday morning with vigorous exercises, and everyone chooses the exercises that he likes best, everyone does them, and then the role of the leader passes to the next one, and so on, until everyone gets a charge of vivacity and fun for the whole weekend.
You can start interesting family traditions during the holidays. For example, how often do you go to the theater? Try to visit the theater with your whole family every year before the New Year holidays, choosing a fun, uplifting performance. By the way, this can be done on December 31, after all the salads have already been cut, and there is still plenty of time before the chimes strike.
An example is the famous Zhenya Lukashin, the hero of the film “The Irony of Fate...”. Remember? “Every year on December 31, my friends and I go to the bathhouse...” The man, by the way, eventually found his soul mate, and all thanks to tradition!
Or maybe you too – the whole family – should go to the sauna before the New Year? Everyone there will find something to their liking: the children will play billiards and splash around in the pool, you, your husband and parents will have a good steam bath and swim. You can give each other a massage.
Keep a calendar of traditions, let all important family dates, anniversaries and anniversaries be reflected there. In a special album or notebook, to which each member of the household will add something of their own, you can celebrate the family’s significant achievements and small deeds. Keeping this diary itself is already a tradition.
It would be nice to have at least one major family event every month that you and your baby can look forward to and prepare for. Most of these events will be your birthdays or holidays, and in those months when there is nothing like that, you can simply come up with something special with your child, discuss a way to celebrate or spend this day.
Some such events can be turned into rituals, that is, a certain sequence of events can be clearly defined. Do this once, and the child will quickly remember it and look forward to the event every time.
Involving yourself in family events will give you and your child comfort, safety and a sense of community.
Not only going to the theater, but also visiting exhibitions or trips to the country can be traditional. It is important that they are repeated regularly and that everyone in your family enjoys them. Such a vacation will not only strengthen family ties and allow you to experience unforgettable moments, but will also contribute to the spiritual development of children, broaden their horizons and intelligence.
A great tradition can be weekend walks, forays into nature, skating or skiing, mushroom picking, one-day trips to a neighboring city and leisurely walks along its streets. While children are small, they will enthusiastically embrace such trips.
It is necessary that they retain pleasant, joyful feelings from these joint ventures, then they will not only subsequently offer them to you themselves, but also start them in their families, and so, you see, the tradition will live on, holding the family together. After all, family is our support in difficult times, it saves us from loneliness and prevents us from dying. Without a family, a person is like a lonely tree on a hillock, exposed to all the winds and storms of life. Any grief is much easier to overcome together.
The task of holding together and preserving a family most often falls on the shoulders of a woman, so let’s help ourselves: let’s create good, interesting traditions that will help all family members feel a sense of community, continuity, and strengthen trust and friendship. Tonight, gather your family and come up with something interesting together. Good luck with your ideas - and they will definitely appear, don’t doubt it!
