Traditions-What are your family traditions, and what does traditions mean to you?
Let us take a look a the Webster definition of the word-The passing down of beliefs or customs by word of mouth, without written word or instruction.
Daily Wisdom Word definition: a set of family values, important to pass down and share with family. 2. a tradition is also, what is important to you as the matriarch and eventually passing this on, to your grown children so they may have the gift of a tradition to pass on with their eventual families.
Other than God, there is nothing more important to me than my family. It does not matter how long we go without seeing our family, or visiting them, or even talking to them. The love stays with us of family for them. This then leads to the mystery of why traditions are important to all of us, and what is carried forth with them is that same love we share in our hearts for our family. Traditions, are what comes along with, everyone having a family, an unseen faith, in the rules of the tradition, tweaked, but never fully changed, or not tweaked at all. Our hearts, and the love we give, in doing whats taken to carry that tradition out, is also very valuable, and the memories, made, are another gift to us, to them, and them to their children and so on.
Traditions are one of the most important things we ever will give in our lifetime, and they are filled with inspiration and creativity, and hope, but most important, is the love we carry with this, and pass on that goes with that tradition.
I know with myself, we have a bake night once a year that I created, starting when my daughter was 11 years old, perhaps, 12 years old.
I remember it so well, Hayley, my second daughter, as she is called, and my daughter, and myself shared the first bake night over a decade ago. We began, by picking out the best baking recipes I had as I collected cook books, and have so many.
We were snowed in, and she couldn't go home, because of the winter storm, so the three of us together began creating what we didn't know then, "what would be the rules of"bake night", starting with Christmas music, and my homemade chili.
Now, over a decade later, and this is one of the most important traditions we have for our family. I only seem to remember in my past what is worth taking forward, so this is very important in my heart, and on the eve of my daughters wedding, I asked her, to carry on to my future grand children, bake night, This is a tradition that of course, is filled with love as well, and she agreed, as we shared a mother-daughter moment bonding our love more tight than ever.
I did not even know I was creating, what would be such an important, family tradition.
Traditions, are so very valuable, because they carry with them, things that are done each year to have them. I know for bake night, my daughter picks the date each year, approximately a week before Christmas, and then three weeks before that date, I begin to carefully select the groceries I know will be needed in order to bake each of our hand chosen recipes.
We still have those same index cards, and songs we play, and the same house I have lived in with the same kitchen I pre-make the dough, in every year; The same recipe, with that magical sugar cookie dough, which in 24 hours, will be separated and rolling pin used in, one day prior to every years bake night. My same recipe for the chili, now such huge crock pot of it, that each girl expects, each and every year. It is about routines, and expectations, to be expected, and knowing what to expect, that makes traditions, so very special. Sometimes, to describe one word, traditions, with a daily wisdom word definition, I can only share with you my version of what that word means in my own mind, and traditions, mean the world to me for so many reasons.
On Easter, I took a tradition, carried down from my mother, when we were children, and made it mine, just as my mother had hoped I would. I remember when they were little, watching my daughter and son growing up with this tradition. These little rhyming notes, eventually led them straight to their home made Easter Baskets, from the Easter bunny, who delivered them the night before. When I was little, we had to find those riddled, rhyming notes first, to get those baskets she made, so in carrying this tradition forward, I did my best, to write the notes just as she once had, with the Easter Bunny Helping, of Course!
I thought back on all of the planning my own mother did with her tradition, writing those notes, or helping the Easter bunny write them, and how fun as children that was for us, and then my kids, the same tradition with the same notes, leading to the Easter Baskets, where the Easter Bunny left them. The precious baskets with so much love in them. This is the same love we now have, for Easter, going to church after, but following my mothers guidelines, of her tradition, adding in a few things, and we carried this forth.
For those of you, out there who wonder if there really is Christmas magic, I promise you from my heart, there is.
I have seen the unseen, as I wait for the magic which bake night comes with, each and every year, knowing how precious, all the little details it takes to put bake night together. I have seen this same spirit, shared in the rituals, with "my girls", as I call my daughters friends, and some or most of these girls have been attending over the past decade, and I truly love them for it.
They have their own memories, which are cut out of, these same cookie cutters we used that very first bake night, all packaged with the love and care, and work that goes into that bake night with each of their roles. It takes all of these parts, coming together perfectly, seamlessly every year to create my favorite family tradition.
After bake night, I find myself singing Christmas songs, aloud weeks after Christmas has come and gone, but I never forget each bake night, and all of the work was worth it 50 times over, for all of the memories, I personally have.
We still use some of the original index cards with the instructions and ingredients needed, such as how hot to set our oven! Every year my son and second, daughter, my daughter's best friend, run the candy station. this part of the tradition carries with it, so many of the candied, sugar coated memories, as they cooking perfectly, our peppermint bark, we all love, at the candy station, I set up the day before.
Yes, there are stations, the cookie station with the icings, and decorations for all the Cookies we all bake, at my biggest table, where the girls sit and frost each and every cookie, with their own memories, and creations, they take with them each year from bake night
In my mind, I still see some of the cake spatter on some of them, and now, having to double and triple some of the recipes, to have enough bread or cookies, and Roslynn's Christmas cookies, (my sister's role in bake night), so valued, because over time, we have all shared them, together.
We always play Christmas carols, as the girls bake. Some of these girls lived at my house, as teens. I remember, at my daughters door, stopping an extra moment by her doorway with her laundry, to hear their dramas unfold. They, now, all grown up, some of them now married, with plans of starting their own family soon, all a part, in some way, of this tradition.
I watched, as they graduated high school, and college, and as I look at them, now, and to me, they are still the same little girls, cooking in my kitchen, throughout the years, now so beautiful, each in their own way, and each with the direction their life is heading. Each girl, carrying out the door with them, that old cookie tin, or new one, and their expression looking just the same, as they carry it out, their fair share of the goodies made, just like the tradition they will hopefully carry to their family one day.
I see them, in my mind, with one of those old cookie tins, each girl was given years ago, filled with the present years baking goodies, and all of it with memories well earned. This is the love, we share they carry out with them, leaving, after the evening is over, the smell of cookies, love, laughter, and fun happy family, and the tradition of what makes bake night so important to me, are my family, as I feel my heart swell with love, and my eyes tear up writing this.
Traditions are about Love, and family, such treasured, invaluable assets, we all sometimes take for granted. For, it was my mother, out of her love, that passed on hers, to show me the value of family traditions, by creating them herself, when I was little, and now, my ideas are inspired by hers, for my children.
This daily wisdom word, was suggested by my daughter today so much gratitude goes out to her for the inspiration. As I write on this wisdom word, I know, she with carry forth that which is invaluable, our tradition, with all the love, of bake night. She knows she will share bake night with her children one day, and how much traditions, mean to our family, and I love her all the more for that. SL Dedicated to my bffbcg with all the love we share.
Lets Play, Wisdom Wordology- Wisdogram= #TRADITIONS=+Transcending #Remembered #And Deeply Inspired, Treasured Observances, Nominally Shared." SL
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