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Why Traditions Matter

It is no secret that I love Christmas. Some of my strongest memories as a little girl are around the Christmas tree with my family, spending time together, creating memories. Even now, my whole family loves Christmas. I think it is less about the decorations, presents, and food (though they are fun too), and more about spending time together. There were certain things that we did every year, and we loved them!

Country Boy’s family has different traditions than mine. They are less enthusiastic about Christmas (to say the least). Over the weekend we were talking about Christmas plans, and I got thinking about the traditions that I have created for our little family. I started to wonder whether they were useful or whether they just silly things that serve no purpose.

I am keen for my kids to have special memories of their Christmases, but at the same time I am keen to keep it in perspective. We are Christians, so we celebrate Christmas as the birth of Jesus. I love to decorate the house, and plan special treats and activities, but I don’t want us to become so wrapped up in it that we forget why we celebrate Christmas. Keeping this central to our celebrations also helps us to pass on our values and beliefs to our kids. We want our kids to follow Jesus, and to celebrate his coming at Christmas.

In our house, we don’t “do” Santa, but we have lots of other traditions. We set up the tree and nativity scene We go for a drive to see the Christmas light (we will need to go a bit further this year) and go to the carols by candlelight service. We plan some baking and craft activities too.

To me creating traditions is important (not just for Christmas either!). It gives us a sense of identity as a family, and helps us to teach our kids our values. It also connects our kids with their wider family. I know that kids who feel connected to their family and community are less likely to suffer from a whole range of issues particularly through their teen years. Our society has so few traditions and special days, that those we do have are even more important. So even though some people might think that our annual Christmas traditions are silly, they are all part of what makes our family special!

P.S. We are going to set up the tree this weekend – not sure who is more excited; me or the kids!

I would love to know what traditions other families have. Is having traditions important to you?

Linking up with Jess for IBOT

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Comments

  1. EssentiallyJess says

    November 28, 2012 at 4:23 am

    I love traditions!
    I always thought I would follow in my own childhood traditions for christmas, but there is very little that has stayed the same. We have made our own, using things from both families, and often Christmas is a little different every year, depending on if we are at home or in the South with Boatman's family.
    As a kid i needed the predictability to be the same, but now that I'm older, I enjoy that there are differences every year.

    Reply
  2. Mrs BC says

    November 27, 2012 at 8:45 am

    I love Christmas traditions, and hopefully my children will have lots of happy childhood memories of them. We always – drive around to look at lights, have a real Christmas tree, decorate the house, spend the day with family and friends. The Christmas lunch always includes Christmas pudding, pavlova and tirimisu (I know) as well as prawns, ham, turkey and a variety of salads. I always make some wacky canape (party pies made with venison, get it?)Traditionaly we eat leftovers for a long time as well…
    xx

    Reply
  3. Anne @ Domesblissity says

    November 26, 2012 at 9:41 pm

    I agree with you Jo. Things like setting up the tree, looking at Christmas lights, visiting Santa (and then staying away from the shops for the rest of the time) and preparing for Santa's arrival are all traditions I had as a child (except for maybe the Christmas lights one). We used to go visit Myer's windows in the city but showing my kids that last year was a little disappointing and nowhere near as nice as it was when I was small.

    Anne xx

    Reply
  4. Eckstar says

    November 26, 2012 at 9:35 pm

    Some of my fondest memories of Christmas include your mums chocolate log!! haha

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Jo

I'm a city girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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A lovely, easy Christmas with family, good food, a A lovely, easy Christmas with family, good food, a few presents, an afternoon swim and dinner on the veranda as the sun set. Time to stop and be thankful for the many blessings of the year. I hope you had a lovely Christmas too!
We have been mulling over how to fix up the drivew We have been mulling over how to fix up the driveway and lead up to our house for a while. Currently it’s just a dumping ground for old bits of metal and a big pile of mulch, but C would like to create a turning area and put in a garden. First up though, there’s a huge old stump that needs to go. What better excuse is there to have a fire on Sunday afternoon? C and the kids jumped on the quad bike and trailer, and hauled back a big pile of sticks and logs to help the stump burn. Once the fire was going, marshmallows were found and roasted. No better way to spend time together.
Team work makes the dream work. We were asked rec Team work makes the dream work. 
We were asked recently whether we “make” our kids work on the farm. The answer is of course not. Having said that, all three love to help out whenever they can. They all work hard because they want to; because they take pride in working hard and contributing in a meaningful way to our family life; because they love living on our farm and don’t remember life before we moved here. Whether it be planting trees or doing sheep work or feeding animals, they all want to be involved. As a parent, nothing is better than watching them grow in skill and confidence as they work along side you. We’re so glad that we get to spend time with our three, working together.
We’ve had an unexpected addition to the family ☘️🐑. She is a lot easier to look after than the other family members but she does try to escape her yard and head butt people. Poddy lambs are super cute but they tend to think they are a human. Clover the lamb is sure that Meg is her mum. Can’t think why… 🤔🤣
The perfect way to end a long winter weekend: toge The perfect way to end a long winter weekend: together, cooking damper around the remains of the bonfire.
It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got through shearing without a hitch (thankfully 🙏) but we’ve had a run of the flu followed by Covid run through the family since then. The kids and I have tested positive (this is my second time getting it 🦠) though so far C has managed to avoid it. There has been a lot of lying on the couch feeling pretty ordinary. Han had to reschedule her driving test for a 4th time due to Covid, which is disappointing for her because she wants her freedom and for us because it would be so much more convenient if she could drive herself places. Just to add in to the mix, our hot water system has chosen now as a good time to die so we’re on cold showers until we’re all out of iso. This is not meant to be a whinging post but sometimes life just sucks a bit and it’s good to be real. Fortunately, the sight of the fire going with a stack of wood next to it cheers us up. Things will improve soon. Onwards we go…

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Hi, I’m Jo

City girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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