School is in session, fall weather was here for a few short days and the holidays will be here before you know it. I thought about our day to day routine and about the traditions we have and the ones that I want to start.
One of my dear friends has a tea party with her girls following the first day of school. They all don hats and they make up names for themselves. She said she has done this with her two daughters since they started school. She said it has always been a great bonding experience and has allowed the girls to open up and ask questions that maybe they would have not asked otherwise. They are now older and the questions have gotten harder. Is there a tradition in your home that you would like to share? Do you remember any from your childhood? Which ones will you pass on to your children. I will post more on this as the other holidays approach.

Traditions are the glue that keeps our families together!  Christmas is a wonderful time to start traditions that can be passed down for generations to come.   Do you have a Christmas family tradition?

I love to hear how families create special memories for their children.  The stories they share, and the fun they have during the holidays and always!  Here are a couple of our tradition I started with my kids, and I can only hope they keep the tradition alive as they raise their own family someday. 

On Christmas the kids are very excited to get to the tree and open the presents!  We always start our morning off by bringing a cake that we baked as a family into the living room.  We light a candle in honor of the birth of Jesus and we always sing "Happy Birthday!"  Teaching them the reason for the season is a very important value in our family.   It is a wonderful way for the family to spend some quality time together baking!  

Another one is......Our kids get 3 gifts under the tree from Santa.  Honestly we both felt that Christmas shouldn't be all about the presents, and all the hipe about who has the best of everything.   So we just decided that giving them 3 gifts would relate with the fact that Jesus received 3 gifts, back to the reason for the season.  This is just something we have always done, and it really brings the kids down to earth and they really appreciate what they receive. 

What are your family traditions?