Tradition, in the immortal words of Tevya, keep our families and societies going. They help us to know who each of us and what God expects him to be.

My family really didn’t have many traditions, but the ones we did have I long for sometimes. We used to have a big, ugly bow that got passed around the extended family at Christmas- whoever got it one year had to pass it to someone else the next. We also had a lot of gag gifts at Christmas, things that were adult in nature but innocent enough that kids didn’t get the joke.

One “tradition” I wish I could figure out how to implement, is chores for kids. As a parent now, I find getting my kids to do the chores is really hard, mostly because I see what needs to be done around the house and I just do it. Dishes, taking out the garbage, picking things up… all things we want the kids to do, but at the end of the day it’s just easier to get them done myself than to get my kids to do them. And honestly, I find some sense of purpose in doing the dishes- i actually like to do them, I like mowing the lawn, and taking out the trash gives me an excuse to get out of the kitchen. Maybe I’m hamstringing my kids by doing them myself, but it does bring a sense of joy and well-being to myself.

My parents traditions have been moved, in a large part, to my wife’s side of the family- mine is spread all over the place and we aren’t… physically close. We talk somewhat regularly, but don’t see each other often. That makes some of our traditions a little harder to continue- many of them involved my grandparents and uncles.

One tradition, maybe because my dad only had brothers, and that I haven’t really continued on, is practical jokes. We used to have rubber snakes, spiders, etc. that we’d plant around the house and try to scare others. I don’t really do that anymore, but it would be fun to start up again. Maybe this next Christmas will find some rubber snakes being shipped across the country…