The Importance of Family Traditions and Ones You Can Start Today

As we move into another year, are you ever left wondering where the time went? How can we savor these moments more?

I sure have.

In two weeks, I will be heading back to work and to be honest, I have been overly sensitive about losing the precious hours spent at home with my children.

See the importance of family traditions ideas you can apply to your family all year long below!

While preparing for this new season in time, I want to be sure that our family is continuing to form impactful, shared experiences in the busyness of our every day lives. I don’t want me being away to negatively impact the family dynamic. So this year, my focus is to continue to add more family rituals and traditions into our household. Here’s why.

Studies show family traditions are the basis in creating family culture – you are nurturing bonds between siblings and parents, developing a sense of belonging and helping to create a memorable childhood. A review in the December issues of American Psychological Association’s (APA) Journal of Family Psychology found that “family routines and rituals are alive and well and are associated with marital satisfaction, adolescents’ sense of personal identity, children’s health, academic achievement and stronger family relationships.”

And when I say traditions and rituals, I don’t mean they have to be extravagant or expensive experiences. They can be any simple daily, weekly, seasonal traditions your family can come to expect and look forward to. For example, we have a bedtime routine we stick to each night – dinner, bath, a book, three songs and lots of hugs and kisses. Some weeks we have breakfast for dinner or Taco Tuesday. Every month, we usually have a movie night where we get a Red box rental, stay up late and have popcorn. And of course we have our list of seasonal bucket-list traditions like visiting the pumpkin patch, driving around to see Christmas lights, decorating cookies, or going on a long family trip.

“Family routines and rituals are associated with marital satisfaction, adolescents’ sense of personal identity, children’s health, academic achievement and stronger family relationships.”

As each year goes by and as our family continues to grow, so have our traditions. I can see the impact they make on my oldest son and not only how he anticipates these established routines, but also how well he thrives on them. So while I will be losing time during the day with my littles, I know I will be able to savor the precious moments with them through the rituals we have fostered and the ones we will continue to add each year.

And what better time to start adding new rituals than now?! Below are some great ideas that you can implement with your family today and some of which I will be adding to our family’s list as well.

Remember, the rituals you create will establish key values for your family and will be “magical memories” for your children to look back on and possibly pass along to their own families and generations to come!

What are some of your favorite family traditions? What family rituals do you want to add into your week? Share in the comments below!

If you enjoyed this post, you might enjoy 5 Family-friendly Ideas for Thanksgiving Day