Celebrate Your Family

These days we're all moving at the speed of light, and rarely take time to come up for air. We sometimes need to be reminded of what a wonderful family we have and how lucky we are. One way to make your family feel special, and to remind them of how much you love them, is to create a family tradition that is all your own. Creating a new tradition doesn't need to cost a lot of money or take a lot of time. It can be as simple as or as complicated as you'd like to make it. The Book of New Family Traditions: How to Create Great Rituals for Holidays & Everydays by Meg Cox is filled with wonderful suggestions for creating your own family traditions, rituals and celebrations for both holidays and for everyday.

One simple suggestion Meg offers for Valentine's Day is to serve a red (and pink) food dinner. This can be simple and fun. Think red grapes, raspberries, ham, beets (cook one with your mashed potatoes for a gorgeous ruby hue - and great flavor!), pasta sauce, red corn tortilla chips, and red herbal iced tea. Then serve something chocolate and yummy for dessert. Or create a "What's Sweet About You" Poster. Take a sheet of poster board for each child and decorate with a dozen colored hearts. Inside each heart write one trait about your child that you love. Make it specific to the child, focusing on aspects of the child's personality. This is a great time to praise behavior you want to reinforce. Prop the poster up against the kitchen chairs for the kids to find when the come down for breakfast or come home from school.

Celebrations don't have to be elaborate to give your family your own special time together. When you create your own ways of celebrating, whether it's for a holiday or just to commemorate something special to your family, you're creating memories. And who knows? Your children may even continue them with their own children.