Daily writing prompt

Write about a few of your favorite family traditions.

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Ethnically speaking, the only one that comes to mind is fika, a Swedish/Scandinavian practice of afternoon coffee and some sort of baked good. Except when I do it, it’s often a Clif bar and a bit of cold brew.

Growing up, most traditions revolved around the holidays– Thanksgiving and Christmas. For Thanksgiving, we’d have the big meal at either our house or up at Gram and Gramp’s, and everyone would be there– aunts, uncles, cousins, it was quite a crew. We started a Christmas Eve tradition of gathering at our house– everyone would bring a dish to share, there’d be homemade sill (pickled herring) and hardtack, some gift giving, and then an 11pm candlelight service at church.

Now that our kids are married and off in a few different places, we’ve started gathering at our house for Thanksgiving, where at least two of our three kids and their families are in town for food and fellowship over the course of 2 or 3 days. And my wife and I have been making the 12-minute trip to our son and daughter-in-law and their four kids for Christmas morning. Breakfast and gifts under the tree.

Daily writing prompt

Write about a few of your favorite family traditions.

View all responses

This is more difficult than I first thought. Currently, besides the usual birthday celebrations and a big Labor Day picnic we sometimes attend, it seems a couple events have the makings of tradition– our son and his family travel here from Maine for Thanksgiving, and we have Christmas morning with our other son and his family, who live only 5 miles away. Of late, a theme has been surprise visits to or from our daughter and son-in-law in Colorado. And for the last two or three years, we’ve gathered at our local son’s place for the Super Bowl.

Historically, Sunday dinner after church was a tradition for years; Christmas Eve at Mom and Dad’s with a big spread and a late church service; afternoon coffee and baked goods (we’ve come to call it fika) was a regular feature when we were visiting Mom and Dad, continued religiously by Mom after Dad died. I often still get the urge to “have a little something” mid-afternoon.

It seems like we’re less bound by traditions anymore, or maybe we’re just starting new ones that haven’t really settled in yet.