Family Life: Why family traditions are important

Funny, I have few family traditions that I remember as a child.  Both my parents worked and were pressed for time and finances and so we spent very little time enjoying each other's company like I have the privilege of doing with my children.  And I do - count it as a privilege.  I have worked as a high school teacher (not a great one mind you - imagine a woman with a hooked nose, black flowing gown, slightly crazed look on her face and a broom) - and I have worked as a SAHM (stay at home mom) and homeschooler.  And yes we do work, hard!   I have found both to be a challenge but I have definitely preferred my time at home with my children far more than working in a commercial sense.

I used to feel envious listening to other people's stories of the things they did with their family for those well known holidays and celebrations, and felt like I had somehow been excluded or left out - until I realised that just because I couldn't remember too many family traditions of my own, didn't mean that I could not put some in place for our family.  And we have done that - from birthdays to Christmas we are creating repeatable, enjoyable, fun activities for special days and events.  And I am by no way the most original person but boy are there sooooo many resources online to come up with great ideas on what to do.  And I will definitely share some of these ideas with you at some stage in the unidentifiable future.

But besides wanting to be doing what everyone else is doing - there are some very real reasons that make me want to be part of some of these traditions and why I try to establish our own traditions and grow them every year.

*  Memory Moments!

My children remember these activities so well.  Then they say things like "do you remember last year when we did this...." or "the year before when we did that..."  I want them to look back fondly at our family life and  remember.  Not necessarily the specifics, but just the feeling of being together and enjoying each other's company.

*  Something to look forward to

Just by knowing the tradition, gets them even more excited about what's coming.  They start planning that breakfast meal or the card way in advance because they know what's coming and what we do.

*  Sense of Uniqueness

Each family has their own "special" moments.  Yours will never be mine: we're different, we have different budgets, our children are different which is why this is so fun, there is no point in comparing but enjoy the uniqueness of your family.

*  Gives each family member a sense of value
I love the look on their faces when everyone is pouring out love on one specific family member or when special words are written in a card.  Let's be honest, boys are not always the most forthcoming in words of love when it comes to their brothers, but somehow during these special times the words flow and I feel like I have a home of writers and poets.  Often I catch myself getting all teary listening to the things they write, of course an hour later they are rough and tumbling and shouting which almost but not quite erases that impression.

*  A sense of continuity

Traditions are an inheritance to pass on.  Cycles of continuity, doing the same thing again and again adds an element of stability and predictability which is good for children.  And hopefully I will see my children take some of our traditions and apply them to their families while adding some of their own.

*  Joy - which is just a clever way of saying - LOADS OF FANTASTICAL FUN!

*  Relationship Building
The more meaningful time we spend together, the deeper we build with one another.  It really adds depth to our relationships, especially with siblings who are given a platform to express their feelings for one another.  This can be especially significant - "I love you" has such power!

Remember it's not so much about what you do (otherwise you might fall into tradition-envy, trying to outdo another family, or just spending money which you don't have) but rather it's more about the fact that you DO them.  You don't have to overdo it, the simpler your traditions the easier they are to duplicate.  And then on a side note, there are times when we have totally missed some of these big events or have just had a non-event because of circumstances, and there is freedom in that too.  Traditions should not be binding and cause unhealthy stress, life happens and we do our best as parents but we are not always going to get it right!

Why do you have family traditions in your home?  Have you made your own or were they traditions that you inherited from your childhood?

Birthdays Bash: Ethan my 11 year old hero

Ethan - the one who perseveres, that's what his name means but who would have thought that he would have such a love for life!  As long as he is outdoors, or messing with tools, building or breaking - he's the guy!  He is the largest outdoors equipment owner in our house - surfboards, body boards, skateboards, J-Boards, skates. cricket bats, tennis racquets, balls, snorkelling kit - you name it and he's probably got it or about to buy it with his next birthday or Christmas monies.

As I think back on the last 11 years I am amazed at how much he has grown as a young man, and its always good to look back at the last year since his last birthday.

He helped prepare his first pork belly in the Weber, for Christmas and it was delicious!

Adenoids removed on the same day as Chad.  

He loves making a noise - I don't think Ethan even knows what quiet means:)

Team Player

He loves getting outdoors and is serious about his cap being the right way round when he does.

Sweet Lover

Serious about anything he puts his mind to.

Excursions are his life

Loves children

Always got to keep moving

Funny boy - always ready with a smile

His favourite jacket

Fearless in Orange

Loves his sister!

Happy birthday special boy!

Birthday Bash: Happy 9th Birthday Chaddy

Yes it's that time of the year again, one of my 'babies' is getting older again. Chad is now officially 9. My baby boy. Yes I know he is not a baby anymore but I think all my children will always be my babies. Thank goodness they still let me give them lots of hugs and kisses, not without the sighs and rolling eyes, but I grab every hug and kiss I can get.

He really is my most social child and much loved with his blonde hair, outspoken personality and sense of humour. People seem to naturally warm to him. He always asks the wrong questions at the wrong time in very public places with a disconcerting and discerning honesty which throws people - and has been known to offend sometimes. A real ray of sunshine in my life.

We have shared some very special moments, lots of memory moments - caught on camera and some not but that I will never forget!

Of course we always start with the birthday morning where he got to watch cartoons at granny's house, which is his favourite thing! I don't normally like too much television but DSTV has it's uses at times. Also in our house, one of our birthday traditions is the birthday person gets to choose the meals for the day. Now the rest of my clan normally choose all the cereals I don't normally let eat the rest of the year. The ones with all the colours and pops and sprinkles and twists. Not this boy. He loves Rice Porridge. And so for breakfast he had THREE bowls.

He loves creating, give him paint, clay, pottery or blocks - his mind his always creating. We took our first visit to the Clay Cafe in Hout Bay and he was able to paint and create - not a word, which as you may know is rare.

Of course this year has just been one of hair hair and more hair. My blonde boy who doesn't want me to cut it. And of course after a shower, who knows who we might find - Einstein?

Which didn't mean that he couldn't do an annual midnight visit to the hospital. This time it was a 10 pm visit to emergency with an unknown eye swelling. Poor boy and poor dad who took him and only managed to get to bed at about 2am the next morning.

And there is always lots of love to go around! So much love from this very affectionate child of mine. When he sits next to me, he has to swing his arm over my shoulder or come in for hugs and kisses. And besides this rather fabulous mother that he adores, he loves his oldest brother. (though don't tell his other brother or sister:)

Loves his dad, though I can totally get that! Love him too:0

Of course his love is not limited to the human variety, this is my sweet and cake lover. He can put away a slab of chocolate in no time. And cake, well with Charly's Bakery down the road - or should I say the trainline, - lots of opportunity for him to get into his favourite past time - eating cake!

We took our first trip to the the theatre on our date night. He was so excited and thrilled to be one of the special guests with the rest of the media.

He also took part in his first Nippers competition and clearly winning was not a problem. Funny though, he's not competitive like his brothers. But with his mom yelling and cheering him on, he runs and swims like the wind.

And if you're lucky enough to have a chat with him, you will find that 5% of the conversation is Chad asking questions, and 95% of you trying to answer them or research them if the answers are a bit tricky.

Another year iin his life has passed and time rushes by. I am thankful for every day I have with all my children. Life is precious and each moment a treasure!

Christmas on a Budget: Decorations

Christmas Decorations

How is it going with getting your Christmas Gifts ready? So far we have looked at Christmas Gifts on a Budget and then those Intangible Gifts .  While you are busy with getting those gifts ready for Christmas, decorate your house with some lovely crafts that you and your children can do which allows you to decorate your home simply and beautifully without spending a whole lot of money.  Your children will love it too.

Its funny, I love my children crafting but I always liked the shop bought tinsel and decorations.  But I find the children's enjoyment of festivities is directly proportional to how involved they are.  This year I decided to let them do everything! We might not get everything done but I want them to take ownership of this and I know its special for them to see all their decorations up for everyone to see.

So the first decorations we made were Paper Snowflakes.

Paper Snowflakes Tutorial (finally Lesley:)

We had a look at a couple of templates but really they didn't make much sense to me.  Maybe because I have some flu and my brain seems to be rather thick or maybe its because the creative side in me, refuses to copy other peoples designs.  I eventually ventured into the frightening world of Paper Snowflakes all by myself.  (dramatic I know but I always love a bit of drama in my day)

So here we go, excuse the amateur photos!

First you can start with an A4 piece of paper.  I have scrap white paper (recycled) but you can do this with colour paper, old newspapers or even tracing paper - really anything goes.

 Fold a square

Cut the extra bit off

Fold the triangle over

 Fold the triangle again.

I have drawn a design in a black marker but this is only so that you can see clearly what I have done.  If you want to draw a design on the paper, rather use pencil.  You will find that to design a snowflake the first couple of times, you will want to draw a design, but eventually you will be able to do it freehand!

The black bits are the ones you want to cut out.  The point at the bottom is the centre of the snowflake.

This is what it will look like once its been cut out.  You can see that I still need some lessons in cutting along the lines, but doing this at 12 o'clock at night when I should be in bed and not wearing my reading glasses may have aggravated the situation..  Once it's cut out, unfold it very gently so as not to break this delicate creation.

Beautiful even if I have to say so myself:)

Easy peasy.  

So here are some others that I just did to give you a few more ideas- but once you get the hang of it, you'll really let your creativity flow.

Here's something a little more symmetrical.

And a paper snowflake that is very simple.

 

You can see that I am getting tired of colouring in but hopefully can see what I am doing.

And the finished product?

 This was the finished product in our front window.  Aren't they beautiful?  I only made 2, the rest were cut by my children without any pattern.  Once they worked out how to do it, they just went crazy and just wanted to cut more and more.

The look lovely by the window and if there is a slight breeze they twirl beautifully.  I just used a regular punch and made a hole at the top and the bottom of the snowflake.  Then I connected them with fishing line, but I think any kind of string would probably work.  

Happy Crafting! 

Our next Christmas Decoration will be making Christmas trees out of magazines.

Christmas on a Budget: Christmas Gifts Part 2

GIFT BOXES

These are great for families.  When you buy a gift for the whole family it also reduces the cost of trying to buy individual gift. These can usually be packed in a recycled shoe box which you could get at most shoe stores if you haven't got any at home.

 Movie Box

Popcorn, Chocolate, Crisps and a DVD voucher 

Ice-Cream Gift Box

Cones, Sprinkles, M&M's/ Smarties, 100's and 1000's individual wrapped

( I know this one has been doing the rounds - I don't know where it originated from -  but don't let that stop you )

Garden Lovers Gift Box

Use seeds that you have collected out of vegetables you have cooked with.  Tomato, Green pepper, Beans, Sunflower Seeds, Chillies.  Wrap them individually in homemade envelopes. You can even use a magazine picture on the outside.  A seedling tray (recycled egg box tray), a small bag of soil or compost (from your garden) and some lolly sticks with the names of the vegetables you have planted.  And if you are a crafty person you could even sew some gloves from some scrap material at home.  Any person who loves gardening will love this!

FILL A MUG/ GLASS

These can be bought at a second hand store or from one of your cheaper outlet stores.  The more obscure the shape the better. 

Fill the mug with:

* fudge

* chocolate

*  a little bag of special tea, coffee and sugar

* teddy bear
* plant (which you can get from a cutting)

RECYCLED SCRABBLE

Second hand stores often sell scrabble because the previous owners have lost pieces (and then its really dirt cheap because no one can really use them then. . You can make so many things with scrabble - magnetic scrabble for the fridge, scrabble decorations for the tree and even scrabble coasters.

 

 DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF CHOCOLATE!

I remember the one year where one of my boys got lots of little toys for his birthday but I added an extra large slab (the double size) as part of his gift pack.  To say that all the other gifts faded to obscurity would be an understatement!  He was so thrilled that he had this chocolate all to himself and he wasn't even interested in the rest!

If you have a post on how you keep to a budget over Christmas time, why not pop me an email and I would love to host your article as a guest post. 

Otherwise as always, leave a comment. What are you doing to keep Christmas simple?