Out with the old, in with the new(ish)

Let’s start over.

This is the mindset in which many of us enter the new year. So, in the spirit of January, I present this list (yes, another list) of new traditions for your family to try. This isn’t meant to fill your calendar with another “to-do,” but to enhance the activities you may already participate in with the kids (or young at heart) in your life.

  1. Yes Day: Every time you say no to your kids, (you do that sometimes, right?) have them write their request down and put it in a “yes jar.” Once a month, or less often if you choose, let them pick an activity from the jar that you must go along with.
  2. Snow Soup: On a snow day, make potato soup with mini carrot noses and olives or peas for eyes. Tada! “melting snowman soup.”
  3. Topsy Turvy Day: Kids wake up to discover their toothbrushes in the freezer and come downstairs to find cake for breakfast. Everything is backwards today! Mmmm… breakfast for dinner.
  4. Valentine’s Day Kissletoe: Hang crepe-paper hearts around the house. Anyone caught underneath one has to kiss.
  5. Happy Half-Birthday!: Celebrate a half-birthday with hamburgers and hot dogs slice in half, half filled glasses of milk, a half-chocolate/half-vanilla cake….you get the picture. Sing “Happy Birthday” and stop singing halfway through the song.
  6. Bowls of Questions: Keep a bowl of questions in your kitchen. Put small pieces of paper and a pen next to the bowl. Every week, have each family member add a few questions. They could be: “Share something today that made you smile,” or “What was your favorite thing you did this week?” Pick a mealtime when you’re all usually together and have the kids pick one or two questions from the bowl and everyone gets to answer.
  7. Family Game Night: Set a time, maybe the first Friday of every month, to be family game night. It depends on age ranges, but checkers, Pictionary, Scrabble, and Twister are good options.
  8. Plan a Stay-cation: Find a cheap hotel room in the city closest to you and check in with your family. Explore museums, new restaurants, or simply order room service and swim in the pool.
  9. Donation time: Talk to your kids about helping those less fortunate, then go through your kid’s unused toys and outgrown clothes and donate them to a charity together.
  10. Camp-out-in: Set up a tent in the living room, get out the sleeping bags, and toast marshmallows in the oven for s’mores. (Oh, and maybe tell a few ghost stories, too.)

So, have fun with these ideas and make some new memories. Who knows? You may find your favorite new(ish) tradition.

Ideas have been taken from these websites and reworded to my liking: Numbers 1-5 Real Simple: https://www.realsimple.com/work-life/family/kids-parenting/start-new-family-traditions

Numbers 6-7 Bright Horizons: https://www.brighthorizons.com/family-resources/ideas-for-starting-family-traditions

Numbers 8-10 Popsugar: https://www.popsugar.com/family/Winter-Family-Traditions-44305885

Image 1 family: pbs.org/ Image 2 tent: directenergy.com

Author: audrasanlyn

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