Mormon Life - Traditions tag

{Lifestyle} New Twists on Old Holiday Traditions

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 11:46:00 -0700

by Molly Gray
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: This wonderful holiday season, with my brother out on a mission, I want to celebrate family even more – so here are my ideas for three new Christmas traditions that celebrate family. The holiday season is upon us shortly, and I am just so excited. One thing I love about Christmas is that it brings out the love. People are more willing to tune out the world and focus on family, Christ, service, and, of course, love.

I’ve been thinking about family a lot this year, especially because for the second Christmas in a row, my brother is out on a mission. Having my brother gone has made me want to celebrate family even more, so here are a few new traditions that focus on the family:

Holiday Time Capsule
The idea behind the holiday time capsule is to create a record of the love within a family and watch how it grows and changes over time.

Starting this Christmas, have your family members write letters describing what they love about each other and the memories they have from the past year. Young children can draw pictures to represent the love they feel in their family.

Spend a night reading through the letters and sharing thoughts with each other. Once you have gone through all of the family members, seal the letters in a decorated envelope, Mason jar or whatever else would fit in your home and display it prominently on a bookshelf or a mantelpiece in your home.

Next year, before writing new letters, take out the old letters and reflect on how the love in your family has grown and evolved.

Christmas Dinner Wishes
This is a twist on an old Victorian Christmas tradition in which family members all took turns stirring the Christmas “pudding,” which was a stew with beef and mutton and all sorts of spices and vegetables.

Each family member took a turn stirring the pudding and making a wish.

This would be a great tradition to reinvent with young children. Have them help you prepared Christmas Eve or Christmas dinner—sifting flour, washing vegetables or kneading bread dough—and then when everything goes into the oven everyone gets to make a wish that gets cooked up as the ham turns golden!

Not only is it fun to makes wishes at all ages, this experience can be full of quality family time and kitchen education.

Christmas Morning Photo Book
Another fun thing to do, especially with young couples, is to start a Christmas morning photo book. Every year on Christmas morning, pause a moment before the gifts, before the mess, and before you get out of your PJs.

This is a great way to commemorate Christmas morning and a fun way to display family photos around Christmastime. It would also be really fun to take goofy pictures!

Collect them all in a holiday-themed photo book and put it on your coffee table or near the Christmas tree. As your family ages and grows, so does the photo book!

--

Molly is a 2011 graduate of Ohio State University, where she graduated with a journalism degree. She is now working on a master’s degree in digital journalism at the University of Southern California. She loves exploring new places, reading, crafting and meeting new people.

Where the Gospel Begins, Your Traditions Must End!

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 00:02:00 -0600

by John L. Lund
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: As you travel around the world, you will see how all religions are entrenched in traditions. All religions struggle with finding a balance between core values and acceptable traditions. As you travel around the world, you will see how all religions are entrenched in traditions. Whether it is a Christian church, a mosque, a synagogue, a Buddhist or Hindu temple the challenge is the same. Some traditions are good, but many traditions are not, and the original principle upon which the tradition began has been lost in a foggy maze of ritual.

Like Tevye, in Fiddler on the Roof, his answer to why was, “Here in Anatevka we have traditions for everything... how to eat, how to sleep, even, how to wear clothes. For instance, we always keep our heads covered and always wear a little prayer shawl... This shows our constant devotion to God. You may ask, how did this tradition start? I'll tell you - I don't know. But it's a tradition...” When you travel to Europe, the Holy Lands of the Mideast, or to Egypt and visit the many Christian churches which are centuries old, think of the difficulty of establishing a new religion among the entrenched religions of the time of Jesus and the early apostles.

The early Christian churches were a challenging mix of Jewish and Gentile converts. Each group brought with them the traditions of their fathers. In the New Testament letters the apostles would salute the Jews and the Gentiles with a separate greeting. Peace (Shalom) was, and still is, the salutation of the Hebrews, while “grace” was the appropriate greeting among the Greeks.

To read the full article, click here.

A Season for Tradition

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 10:21:00 -0700

by Kate Ensign-Lewis
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: I think Christmas brings out everyone's longing to relive long-held traditions. I know that's true for me. The Christmas buzz is all around the office, and we’re all a little trunkie for the holiday. Yes, there’s always the excitement for some time off, but with Christmas, it’s different. You know it is. There’s something certain about this time of year that goes straight to the heart of all people and infects them with a joyful anxiousness.

For me, the anxiousness revolves around excitement for certain traditions. I’m one that loves tradition. As the youngest in my family, I was kind of the keeper of tradition—the one who, growing up, was desperate for the holidays, the siblings it brought home, and the memories we could make and relive.

Christmas Eve is where it’s really at for my family. We have countless traditions—tying off the banister with ribbon to prevent trespassers downstairs; covering the banisters with blankets so no one can see what Santa has brought; sleeping in one room together. I’ve become more flexible with age (really, 10 grown adults and their children sleeping in one room doesn’t really work anymore), but there are still certain things that need to happen on Christmas Eve for me to feel the Christmas spirit:

Nativity reenactment. We take our parts, wear towels for headdresses and bathrobes for clothes, and my dad reads the story (and directs us to our lines), with my mom or a sister on the piano for Christmas hymns. This is the most special part of the evening.

The dinner. Each person chooses one thing they want to contribute to the dinner—the first Christmas my parents did this it was all chips and dip. Thereafter, baseline fare was ham and rolls, and we’ve added other must-haves (such as frog-eye salad and Dad’s macaroni salad) through the years. A brother-in-law recently added Bagel Bites.

New pajamas. I never realized how unremarkable opening pajamas on Christmas Eve was until I went to college. I wouldn’t be surprised if some department store ran a promotion back in the 50s encouraging “new pajamas for your kids to sleep in on Christmas Eve,” resulting in millions of families adopting the tradition and passing it on to succeeding generations. (As a result of this tradition, I have an entire dresser drawer dedicated to pajamas.)

A screening (in new pajamas) of George C. Scott’s Christmas Carol. This is the best version, in my opinion. I always get emotional when Scrooge begs the Ghost of Christmas Past to tell him if he still has time to “sponge away the writing on this stone.”

If you’re reading this list and find a couple familiar-sounding ideas, I wouldn’t be surprised. I’ve found that my own experiences color the ideas I suggest for LDS Living. Not long ago, we ended our 12 days of Christmas, with the 12th day offering a kid-friendly nativity script. I volunteered to write it, having had so much experience with it. And while I tried my best to make it short and sweet, I couldn’t leave out the beauty of the language from the scriptures themselves (which is the way my family has always read it)—hence, two scripts.

Today you might notice that we have Christmas Recipes from LDS Living readers. We asked this question in an e-mail after I thought of how important food traditions are to my holiday—and how I’ve seen this true for many others. Check it out! Maybe there’s a new recipe there for your family gathering. (I’m thinking about the recipe for “That Apple Cake.” Mmmmm.)

This year, for the third time in my adult life, I will be spending Christmas away from home. The traditions will be different, but one thing will be the same—family. And while I know I’ll miss my own family’s unique blend of Christmas activities and spirit, who knows? I might find something new to make Christmas even better.

What about you? What unique things your family does on Christmas or Christmas Eve?

Orson Scott Card: Traditions and when to change

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 10:24:00 -0700

source: MormonTimes.com

When our oldest child was 5, he came to his mother and asked her for a box.

"What do you need it for?" she asked.

"Packing," he said.

"Packing? Where are you going?"

"For when we move," he said.

"We aren't moving," she said.

He looked at her in consternation. "I already had my birthday in this house," he said. "It's almost my birthday again."

Only then did she realize that in his entire life, he had never spent two birthdays in the same house. He did not share our adult understanding that this was about going to graduate school, getting a job and then moving from rental to rental till we had room for our growing family.

He assumed that this was how things were supposed to be — the Card family moved every year.

General Conference Traditions

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:00:00 -0600

by Ashton Kelley
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: Every family and group of friends has a different way of making the two days of General Conference more exciting and memorable. And because it's easy to get distracted during several hours of talks, here are a few traditions that help these people make the experience more meaningful:

Every year I drive to Salt Lake City and meet my family for General Conference. Before leaving for Salt Lake City, my mother or father will wake up early to prepare a picnic lunch for the day. Then, between the sessions, the whole family goes out to their car and sits together for lunch. We usually talk about the most recent session and how specific talks were most meaningful to us. This helps me to remember the points that were most meaningful for me, and talking with my family about it helps me to set realistic goals of how I can use the conference advice to improve my life. - Jordan Lowe, UT

I have young kids and it can be difficult to get them to listen to so many talks in only two days, so our family has a couple of traditions that help us all pay closer attention.

Through the week before General Conference, we read King Benjamin's address in the book of Mosiah. Then, the night before the conference, each of my kids will decorate a cardboard box. On Saturday morning we arrange all of the boxes in front of the TV, making sure that the open end is facing the TV. This is our way of pointing our "tent doors" toward the speaker, just like King Benjamin's people did. - Martin Jenston, CN

Every year before General Conference, we try to memorize the names of all of the apostles. This helps us to know and recognize them when they give a talk. To help us memorize their names, we put their names to the tune of "Ten Little Indians":

Monson, Eyring, Uchtdorf, Packer, Perry, Nelson, Oaks and Ballard, Anderson, Scott, Hales, Holland, Christensen, Cook and Bednar. - James Nelson, AZ

My husband and I attend the temple together sometime during the week before conference. This helps us prepare to hear the messages shared during the conference. - Sherrie Cook, IA

We encourage our kids to watch all four sessions of conference, and sometimes it's hard for them to sit through all of the talks. To help control their wiggles and focus on the speakers, a few days before conference weekend, my wife helps the kids make a small book of blank pages. During the sessions, everyone draws pictures of the speaker, and under the picture we write the speaker's name and some notes on what their talk is about. It's fun to watch how the books and drawings change as the kids get older, and they enjoy being able to look back through all of them. - Bryon Eliason, TN

Here are a couple links that are also sure to help you:

2009 Deseret Book Conference Packet: Includes a word counter, conference topic bingo, finger puppets, and more!

TheIdeaDoor.com: Full of activities, games, and guides for children.

Creating Christmas Traditions

Fri, 27 Dec 2002 08:12:00 -0700

by Jeanette Bennett
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: Traditions—and especially Christmas traditions—are as wide and varied as there are children who remember them. My family celebrated the holidays with anonymous and heartfelt gifts. Here are some other reminders of traditions you may not realize you already have. I could almost smell the turkey roasting when Mom set out the laminated pilgrim scene in the early days of November. The pumpkins, Indians, pilgrims and corn stalks were carefully arranged along the top of the black piano. We eagerly awaited Thanksgiving—and the Christmas season that followed.

The day after our family feast, four boxes with torn lids and bulging bottoms would be carried up from the basement. The decorations they held would soon spread down the banister and along the exterior roofline of the house. Others would adorn the fresh tree cut during our annual snowmobiling quest to find the roundest, tallest, most fragrant pine tree in the forest near Island Park, Idaho.

Decorating the house for Christmas was almost as much fun as Christmas morning itself. Un-boxing familiar ornaments, holiday candles and stuffed Santas rekindled our love for the magic season. And, of course, the day after Thanksgiving was the day Christmas music began playing constantly all over the house.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas tape and our Ricky Tanner record were favorites, while Mom added her own version of “O Holy Night.”

Once the tree was decorated and colored lights blinked throughout the house, we basked in the Christmas spirit. Each year Mom made a booklet with pages for each of us to write down our Christmas wishes. Some years our lists were very long, as we hoped good behavior would result in a magical Christmas morning.

One year my family of nine was facing financial hardship. A school teacher’s salary and a new baby in the home made money very tight. This was the year our family was in charge of delivering Sub for Santa gifts in the ward, where dad was bishop. Each auxiliary had been diligent in gathering funds and toys to give needy families within the ward’s boundaries.

Two days before Christmas, we finished rapping the gifts and loaded them into the station wagon. Part of me secretly hoped our family would be the beneficiaries of this generous collection of goodies. As our station wagon pulled past the stop sign on Taylorview Lane, my hopes sank. We really were going to give all these gifts away.

As a new non-Santa-believer, I understood that the gifts I’d receive this Christmas morning would be directly related to my parent’s budget. Even if I was better behaved than my friend Lindsey across he street, my Christmas morning would likely pale in comparison to hers.

Our wheels crunched along the frozen streets until we reached a government housing development. To my surprise, I was beginning to feel excited. I could tell my sisters were, too, because we were all singing Christmas tunes faster than Sister Richardson could have ever led them. She always gave the elderly organist a workout by hurrying the tempo for every Sunday hymn.

Pulling into a parking stall, Dad whispered that we were very lucky to be elves tonight. As he got out of the car and opened the trunk, we weren’t sure what our role would be. The sub-zero air made me hope my job would be to stay and keep the seat warm, but Dad motioned all of us out and loaded our arms with gifts. I grabbed two Barbies—easily identified by the jingle bell paper I’d wrapped them in—along with some lighter packages.

Dad started toward the dimly lit porch and we followed. As we stacked red and green packages outside the door, I said good-bye to any hopes that these gifts were for me. Then I began thinking about how this young family would react. After quietly stacking the last few boxes, we all hid behind a snowdrift. My older sister rang the doorbell, and then rushed to join us.

When the door opened, we all leaned forward to hear the response—first, a mother’s gasp. Small feet pattered to the door and we heard exciting squealing. “He came, he came!”

“Mom, you were wrong,” we heard a child say. “Santa didn’t forget about us this year!” A warm teardrop crawled down my wind-chapped check.

This was the true Christmas spirit. For the first time, I felt the joy that couldn’t be contained within me. I wanted to leap, sing, cry, and rejoice.

As we drove home that night, we weren’t singing aloud. But because of that experience many years ago, a Christmas song begins in my heart as soon as I begin helping with the Thanksgiving dishes.

Since that memorable Christmas, our family traditions have included anonymous gifts to those who may need a little help. While we enjoy wrapping the treasures, our biggest joy comes in sneaking up to the doorstep, then rushing off before we’re caught. We’ve probably given more gifts this way than we’ve given to each other. We’ll always need a way to continue capturing the true Christmas spirit in our hearts and in our homes.

Tips for Creating Family Traditions

Don’t put undue pressure on yourself. You probably already have traditions, but don’t realize it because it’s “just the way you do it.” Ask your children what you family traditions are. You may be surprised at what they think holiday time is all about.

Pick a tradition that doesn’t depend on a big budget. Traditions are more likely to be handed down through generations if their success isn’t dictated by your pocketbook.

Be consistent with fragrances, foods, songs, and decorations. Seeing a 12-inch stuffed Santa with my name embroidered on it or smelling cinnamon sticks always evokes my sense of tradition.

Read your ancestors’ journals and biographies to see if they had family traditions worth rekindling.

Don’t forget Christmas is a 24-hour day. Maybe your tradition could be something after the morning madness ends. Play basketball at the church after lunch. Go caroling at noon. Hold a family recital or art festival in the afternoon. Consider a family gift like a game or puzzle that can be enjoyed Christmas evening.

Consider a Christmas with no presents. Donate the money you would have spent to a worthy cause. Consider taking a family trip instead of exchanging gifts. Time together can be more memorable than opening last-minute gifts.

Avoid stress. Traditions don’t have to be perfect. Don’t make your family uncomfortable if things don’t go as planned.

Use the special talents of your family members. If your teenage son can carve wood, ask him to care your stocking hangers each year. If your family has musical talents, encourage members to write lyrics or compose a family theme song for the holidays.

Have a “Secret Santa” drawing with specific rules. Perhaps you can’t spend any money, but must do one good thing each day. Reveal the Secret Santas on Christmas Eve.

Do the “12 Days of Christmas” for someone in your neighborhood. They may not need a partridge in a pear tree, but being remember for a dozen consecutive days would surely brighten anyone’s holiday.

After your children go to bed Christmas Eve, create sleigh tracks and reindeer prints outside your house. When the children wake up, have them look for signs that Santa came.

Perhaps the most common—and most important—family tradition is reading or acting out the Christmas story from the Bible. Always bring the true spirit of Christmas to your home by remembering the birth of the Savior.

Exercising Through the Holidays

Wed, 27 Nov 2002 08:22:00 -0700

by Kelli Calabrese
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: During a busy time like the holidays, we all tend to neglect our health. Being in top physical condition can help you manage the demands of a season that is full of activity—and stress. Stay in tip-top shape for handling the load that the holidays can bring.

Wouldn’t it be great to enjoy the holiday season feeling invigorated, rather than stressed and fatigued? Exercising through the holidays will not only help us managed the addition al stressors, but will also put us one step ahead of our health-oriented New Year’s resolutions.

Create some new traditions.

Instead of the usual baking fest, consider training for an event with your family like the “Turkey Trot” or “Jingle Bell Run.” Having a physical goal in mind such as training for a 5K run will help you to stay on track with your workouts. Even traditional holiday activities such as caroling through the neighborhood on foot or sledding down the town hill will burn calories and keep the heart pumping. You and your family may be delighted with some new activity-based family customs, and not even miss all of the lard and sugar you avoid in the process.

Manage your time.

If you start holiday shopping early and pre-plan the parties you wish to attend, you’ll not fell as pressured to give up your exercise sessions. Try putting all of your workouts in your planner for the months of November through December and stick to them just as you would any other important appointment. Be firm about keeping that commitment and resolve toward maintaining good health through these notoriously decadent months.

Review your goals and priorities.

Your life has many important parts including family, work, spiritual growth, recreation and health, which can be especially hard to balance around the holiday. Studies have shown that those who take care of their health—specifically through exercise—are better able to take care of others and achieve balance in al areas of their life. Taking a little time for your physical fitness will pay big dividends at this time of year.

Measure your progress.

Knowing your starting point and tracking your improvements throughout the holidays will inspire you to continue. Get out the scale, stopwatch, camera, and measuring tape to record your starting points and create a folder to store your stats, along with workout cards, and personal goals. This will be a good comparison and motivator as you are progressing or if you reach a plateau. Re-evaluate your level of fitness and compare your improvements from today to that of January 1st, 2004. You may be delighted at how much stronger, flexible and fit you are.

Put fitness gear on your holiday list.

If anyone asks what you want this holiday season, politely reply that you would prefer a gift certificate to the gym, a new pair of running shoes, a heart rate monitor, a pair of skiis, or a new workout tape. You will get a lot more mileage from new workout apparel than from anything else.

Take advantage of winter activities.

If you live in a cold climate, the world is your gym. Consider cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or ice skating. If you live in a warm climate, go for a bike ride, walk or swim. Outdoor activities will add to the mental and spiritual dimensions of physical activity and help to keep your holiday anxiety to a minimum.

Sign up for lessons.

If you commit to taking dance lessons throughout the holidays, not only will you have built in some enjoyable exercise time, but you will be able to show off all of your latest moves on New Year’s Eve. You may want to sign up for a winter session of kickboxing, tennis, or swimming.

Choose an activity that you will enjoy and consider singing up fro the follow up course in the spring. You may even be motivated to enter a competition and bring your fitness to a whole new level.

Workout first thing in the morning.

If you complete your workout as your very first task of the day, then there won’t be unexpected obstacles to compete with your workout time. During the holidays there is a greater chance of alternate activities in the evenings, so play ahead by working out first things in you day. Your body will get used to the morning exercise routine, giving you added energy for holiday shopping.

Convenience is a factor.

If you find you don’t have time to go to the gym, break out the workout videos, dust off the home equipment or resort to basics like walking, sit-ups and push-ups. Do what you can to pick up the pace and find creative ways to fit in activity.

Don’t procrastinate!

If you wait until next Monday, they you’ll wait until January are then you’ll wait until spring. Start out with some form of movement until it becomes a habit, and you begin to formalize your plan. You’re far more likely into to slip into patterns of inactivity if you address them ahead of time and are prepared with alternatives. Have a safe, happy and fit holiday season.