Traditions vs. stuff we do over and over again… just some observations. 

A tradition is defined as the handing down of information, beliefs, or customs from one generation to another. 

It’s the activities that make Christmas, New Years, Halloween, or for some maybe national hot dog day special.  Do I have traditions?  Or is what I do just a familiar repeating activity done from one year to the next.  If my parents didn’t do it, or theirs before them, can it be a tradition?  

Christmas and the new year are the most recent time for following family and holiday traditions, but I haven’t written anything for a while, so I’ll start with Thanksgiving. 

Growing up, Thanksgiving was family getting together, eating turkey and dressing with button mushrooms, creamy mashed potatoes, and that jelly cranberry glob from a can.  My dad would cook everything starting the night before. That smell of turkey in the morning-heavenly!  Was any of that passed on from a previous generation.  Who the heck knows.  I doubt it.  So if I don’t carry on those activities then there is no tradition.  Right?

Fast forward-when my parents were no longer with us, my sister and I decided we should travel for Thanksgiving.  We both learned our cooking skills from our mother.  Remember dad cooked the meal!   Sorry Mom, you once burned bread, that you bought…or so the story goes:) Choosing a great restaurant for the feast is way better than cooking. I kind of remember a turkey alternative for a while-steak, burritos, or anything but turkey. Then again that might have been Christmas. Travel for Thanksgiving has become a welcome tradition or is it an activity.  We have also been known to pick a theme of what to wear each year. Not sure how that “tradition” got started. Now I’m putting tradition in quotes! We also don’t all go, so even our activities aren’t consistent activities.  I’m not doing too good on this tradition thing.. We’ve been to lots of places through the years. We even went to Plymouth Rock to eat with the pilgrims and the Indians.  Thanksgiving traditions:  family, and eating.  Familiar repeating activity:  travel.  Well, actually this year we didn’t travel or even get together with family.  So much for…what ever we are calling it.

Some things you think could become traditions just don’t stick.  We’ve run a 5K maybe 3 times.  That one just isn’t sticking. It’s sometimes cold and always way too early.  We’re more of a get up late, maybe watch a parade kind of group.  

Let’s move on to Christmas.  At Christmas we have a real tree.  We even go cut it down our selves.  I did that a couple of times as a kid.  So tradition.  Nope.  The parents moved on to the fake tree and I really don’t like the trek to hunt for that perfect tree, which usually ends up being an ugly misshaped cedar tree.  Has it passed to the next generation?  The live tree part has, but they live in cities and trek to the corner lot.  Live tree-it’s as close as we’re coming to a tradition, so far.  Every year we put an angel on top of the tree.  I’d rather have a star.  Lights on the house, yep, but I could take them or leave them.  I have a Santa collection that goes out every year.  This year I put them out even though no one was going to see them.  So maybe that is actually a tradition.  Or just habit.  Mostly I think I have just become Scrooge for all things Christmas.  I hope that doesn’t become a tradition or something that happens every year!

I could keep going through more holidays but it would probably be more of the same.  Some things we do, but not always.  So we don’t have any true traditions and we don’t have many things we do the same every year…my biggest observation-oh well, that’s life.  Enjoy!