What Are Family Traditions?

Family Traditions

What are Family Traditions?

Traditions are practices or beliefs that create positive feelings and are repeated at regular intervals. They're more than routines, which are ordinary, everyday activities that require no special behavior and involve little emotion. Often traditions are handed down from generation to generation, but every family can create its own traditions as well.

The Value of Family Traditions

Traditions cultivate connection between immediate family members and between generations. Family scholars Nick Stinnett and John DeFrain say that traditions are the "we always" of families, like "We always make snow ice cream at the first snowfall," or "We always have games and popcorn on Saturday night." Because such traditions have meaning that is special to an individual family, they create feelings of warmth and closeness. By spending time together in a fun and special setting, family members grow closer.

Effective traditions promote a sense of identity and a feeling of belonging. They also promote a feeling of safety and security within the family by providing a predictable and familiar experience. Family members have something to look forward to which gives them a sense of assurance in a hectic and ever-changing world. In his book The Intentional Family, family scholar William Doherty says that as family bonds are weakened by busy lifestyles, families can stay connected only by being intentional about maintaining important rituals and traditions.

Regular participation in meaningful traditions helps families overcome an inclination toward what family scholars call "entropy." In the physical sciences, entropy is the tendency of a physical system to lose energy and coherence over time, such as a gas dissipating until it's all but gone. As Doherty explains, an "entropic family" is one that loses its sense of emotional closeness because members neglect the family's inner life and community ties.

Practical Ideas

Here are ideas for creating meaningful family traditions:

 Aim for a moderate number of traditions. Families with too few traditions have trouble staying unified. They tend to forget or ignore important events in family member's lives. Families with too many traditions, on the other hand, dilute the importance of each tradition. Moderation is the key.

 Establish new traditions. Establishing new traditions takes preparation and effort. Parents should first identify a goal they want a new tradition to help them accomplish. Pick a good time to start the tradition and think about how often it should be repeated. Decide what activities will be included and the significance of these activities. Choose traditions that include every family member and are sensitive to the needs of all family members. Remember that every family is unique; do what works for you. Also don't overwhelm the family with new traditions. Pick one or two and see how things go.

 If religion is part of your culture, have spiritual traditions. It is important for families that actively practice a religion to have some traditions that have a spiritual connection.

 From time to time, evaluate your traditions. To make sure your traditions are working for your family, it's a good idea for families occasionally to identify and evaluate traditions they already have and make plans to add new ones. HSP3M: Family Traditions Class Work Name: ______

As a class we are going to share some ideas for family traditions. You will be asked to describe one unique family tradition from your nuclear family (or extended family if you choose) as well as an idea for a new family tradition for your nuclear family. Describe each family tradition (old and new) in a paragraph with the following structure as a guide:

What would you name the tradition? When did the tradition begin? What time of year does it happen? Who is involved? Describe the details of the tradition. What does each member of the nuclear family get from the tradition?

1. My Old Family Tradition:

2. My NEW Family Tradition: