Family Friday Newsletter - 2 min read by: Finley Robinson

A Single Sentence from a Season Ahead

Family Traditions

🎶 It's the most wonderful time of the year 🎅🏽🎄 ... but is it always??

I guess it depends on who you ask, because the holidays are an amplifier for everything.

Gifts
Meals
Parties
...
Pressure
Traditions
Expectations

The most wonderful time of the year does push everything front and center, both personally and as a family team.

Christmas, more than any other holiday, makes the most room for family traditions.

I love our repeated, memorable family practices. I've also lost a ton of joy over the years because I prioritized the tradition over the family team.

I've had it explained to me this way. I both love what it means and hate how true it is.

I've always been personally plagued with high holiday expectations. Somehow, I've wrongly believed that I needed:

(a) to have all the traditions
(b) to have the best traditions
(c) to have persistent traditions

Do you know what this created over the years? A fight with my wife every Christmas Eve for at least 5 years in a row.

Finally, a few years ago, I scrolled twelve months ahead to my calendar on December 23. I made an appointment at Noon that day with myself. I wrote...

"Don't get into a family fight again."

Sometimes you just need to give yourself a good talking to and reset.

Traditions are wonderful, but they should aid in family connection not take away from it.

How Traditions Benefit Kids

1. They signal it's safe

Neighborhoods install speed bumps for a reason. They keep speeds low so that children stay safe. Reading the same book or visiting the same light show, signals to your kids that your family is predictable, consistent, and safe.

2. They give a sense of belonging

Traditions with their family communicate to your kids that no matter what's going on outside the home, they have a place in your family team.

3. They create anticipation & hope

Good traditions build year after year. An old teacher of mine described hope as 'desire with expectation.' There is nothing greater than giving kids hope and then delivering it.

4. They facilitate family ownership

When your son or daughter actively participates in making special memories, their buy-in deepens. It grows their connection to their family even more.

5. They connect generations together

Whether it's the movies you watch, the meals you eat, how you open your presents, ​the pajamas you wear, the cookies you bake, the miles you drive, or the stories you read... kids that are brought into a bigger family story always benefit.

I expect that this Christmas season you'll appreciate a good speed bump. Traditions, in all their imperfections, help slow you down and connect your family team together.

Pick a few and go hard after them. As your kids age, use your freedom to change. It's your home, your family and your traditions.

I hope you'll create amazing family traditions but don't treat them like I did and make the tradition bigger than the team.

Finley