I was talking to my daughter one Sunday afternoon after she had returned from a sleepover at a friend's house. She was quite surprised about the fact that her friend did not have a family game day! She proceeded to tell me what her friends household did on Sunday's, and how glad she was that she had us as a mom and dad!



Family Traditions

What is a family tradition? It can be many things, a family vacation or an annual fishing trip. Even something as simple as a game day can mean a lot to a child growing up and an activity that your kids will continue with their own families. As parents, what are you interested in - hunting, fishing, quilting, playing games? Pass it on to your children and spend time showing them what you know.

Game Day A Simple Family Tradition

Game day is a fun and simple family tradition passed down from generation to generation in my husband's family. It has built an unexpected closeness with our daughters. It is hard to describe the wonderful feeling that day when my daughter returned from her sleep over and told me that we were the best parents in the whole world. The pleasure it brings to our girls is obvious and stated very openly. One afternoon after having our game day, our youngest daughter told us “This was one of the best days of my life”. My question to you is, need I say any more on the importance of Family Traditions, especially ones that give special family time?

In this day and age of rush, rush, rush and go, go, go it seems like you never have enough time. Guard those precious family traditions that you hold close to your heart and share them with your children. If you do not have any traditions make new ones. As a parent it is worth the time and the enjoyment will be invaluable.

A Tragedy

I have seen so many family's that do not take the time to spend the one on one, or even have a special time for their family to get to know one another. I can tell you that I see a difference in the way the children behave in public or even at home. I see so many adults that think children are not on their level and what they need to do is to just go play. In my eyes this is a tragedy. If you do not get to know you child while they are young and gain a mutual respect with each other, than you are just looking for trouble when they become a teenager.

I asked my grandmother if she had any regrets that she wished she could change in her life. She sadly stated that the main regret she had was getting to busy with life and not spending any quality time with her kids when they were young. I decided I do not want this to be me. I did not want to have that regret.

Building a Relationship with Your Children through Family Traditions

We have more family traditions than game day, this is just an example of one that will give you quality time with your kids and not hurt your pocket book. Family game day has become an essential activity in our lives because it relieves stress, brings us all together, and helps keep our family bond very tight.

This is one step of many to building a trust and openness with your children that will be there for life. When they get into trouble or need advice on something small or large, you want them to come to you and not just rely on friends to set the example of what to do. We incorporate many fun activities in our daily lives, another fun and positive activity is sending cards to grandparents, family, and friends with funny pictures and stories in them.