Traditions Create Memories Regardless of Where We Are
You've embarked on a new adventure. You’ve uprooted yourself and moved. After the stress of a PCS, settling into a new “normal” comes with its own hurdles. Planning for Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays, and everything in between seems to be something all military families struggle to decide. These traditions change and adapt with us as we grow, but there are other traditions military families deal with as well. Will you be present for your spouse’s departure? What about homecomings? The list is endless.
Let’s face it. Our lives are chaotic and traditions give us something to look forward to throughout the year. How do you create new traditions? I wish I could give you the answer that would fit your family perfectly, but to be completely honest, you will change your traditions to some degree, with each move and each deployment, and sometimes it will be just to fit everyone's schedule. Instead of having the answer, I have created a list of my family traditions. Some of these traditions will fit the holidays, and some will fit for other various occasions in our lives.
Family Traditions for When My Spouse is Home:
We spend each holiday at home as a family, and this is one of my favorite traditions. Having our families visit during the holidays is nice, but devoting the specific day to just be at home as a family gives us time together.
We make sure to be at each special event together. It may not seem like a tradition, but for us, attending every sports activity, every dance recital, every promotion ceremony, every homecoming, every fair well, every...well everything is important to us ;) My spouse and I are busy people, but we have to make sure our children know they are loved and supported by both parents.
We hang our family pictures first, when we move into a new home. This alone gives our family a sense of comfort. We make sure to hang these pictures along with a sign with some catchy slogan like, "Home is where family is," every time we walk into our new home.
Family Traditions for When My Spouse is Away:
Unfortunately, my spouse misses many holidays, birthdays, and events. Though it can be hard because I am used to having my partner with me, I make sure to keep our routines the same while he is away. We still spend our holidays at home, and we attempt to video chat with my husband during the day. I still attend every event, and sometimes I bring along one of the many dolls my children have to represent their daddy. I still try to make everything special for them regardless if my spouse is home or not.
Traditions are the special things we create to celebrate, remember, and honor our various activities and special days. As a family, our traditions focus on our children, but before we had children, our traditions focused on making new memories together to build our marriage.
You will find a way to make traditions regardless of where you are. I promise these memories will last you a lifetime!
