Tradition!

Tradition! In my family, this word is always sung to the tune of "Tradition!" from the musical "Fiddler on the Roof."  Traditions are indeed important.  I've read many articles from family experts who tout the importance of traditions for helping children to feel a sense of belonging and identity.  So how do we do it?  I believe it is part intentional and part accidental.  Some more experienced parents I've talked with have said that often, the kids come up with the traditions.  What we did once as a family becomes something "we ALWAYS do...(fill in the blank)."  And that's how it starts.  Some of the more intentional traditions may come as something you hear about and decide to try, or things that may help meet family goals.  Family goals...hmmm...more on that coming soon.  

One intentional tradition that our family has started doing at Christmastime is driving around and looking at lights.  It does not have a great deal of significance other than nice family time.  We do have several traditions, although I had hoped to add some more this year...unfortunately the Christmas season got away from me and we weren't able to do all that I had hoped.  But that's okay...rather than stressing ourselves out on our days off to check off things on the "traditions" list, we were able to spend some good quality down time together, that I believe was more valuable.  

What traditions does your family have, and how do you balance doing traditions with enjoying "down time?"