Traditions. Oh how I wish I’d set more of them when my kids were little. They are only small for a very short amount of time, and their hearts are tender and pliable and up for anything you suggest (almost!).
This blog has been scheduled to be about Christmas traditions for a long time…but I’d like to widen the scope. Our tendency in life is to make it from one day to the next, one activity to the next, one vacation to the next with little reflection in between. But as a wise professor once told me, “We don’t generally learn something as we’re going through it—but only as we reflect on it do we see what we’re meant to see.”
Reflection takes time. Intentional parenting takes time. Marriage takes time. It seems that everything worth anything takes TIME. Since we don’t have to fight bears for our food or forage for berries, TIME might be our most precious resource that we spend. We can always make more money, but we have a finite amount of time. In fact, our busyness is sometimes a reflection of our misunderstanding of our “finiteness:” we continually say yes and yes and yes to a great number of things without stopping to ask the question, “Is this what I’m supposed to be spending my time on?”
To implement traditions takes creativity. Creativity takes a certain amount of quiet and slowing down and thought-time, which is all a hard sell in December!
Traditions don’t have to be elaborate or expensive. What matters most is consistency and connection. When families repeat small rhythms year after year—reading a story together, lighting a candle, baking a recipe handed down through generations—they create a sense of belonging. Kids know what to expect, and those rituals become markers of stability in an unpredictable world. When kids know what to expect, it builds resiliency in them. So take the time to honestly reflect on your traditions: are they serving your family well and accomplishing what you want them to? Do you need a new tradition or two?
If you’re building new traditions, begin with one or two simple ideas:
Little traditions become big memories.
One of the sweetest parts of setting traditions is letting each family member contribute. Ask what everyone loves most about Christmas, and weave those ideas together. When children help shape the tradition, they feel ownership—and one day, they may carry those traditions into their own homes.
For us Christians, traditions create space to pause and remember the story at the heart of Christmas. Light an Advent candle, read a short Scripture together, or talk about where you’ve seen hope, peace, joy, and love in the past year. These small practices quietly form spiritual habits that grow over time.
No tradition is meant to be a burden. If something becomes stressful, adjust it. Traditions should serve your family—not the other way around. The goal is joy, presence, togetherness, and gratitude for Jesus’ birth which will shape their souls in God-glorifying ways!
As you shape your family’s Christmas rhythm, know that you’re doing something meaningful. You’re creating touchpoints of joy your children will carry with them for years to come. And maybe, one day, they’ll pass those same traditions down—continuing a story of faith and love that began right where you are now.
