It is up to you to pass traditions from generation to generation.
How to pass down traditions from generation to generation is up to us, darling. We are the glue that holds the family together, and we also hold all the combinations to our family’s past. We are the storytellers and teachers who can present vivid stories of our past and teach our grandchildren the importance of family traditions. That’s why we are named the GRANDmothers of our families.
Many of our grandchildren have no idea of what a multigenerational family lifestyle looks or feels like. But, they are aware they are missing out on consistent bonding with their grandparents, aunties, and uncles, and cousins, and the large family gatherings around the holidays and birthday celebrations and family discussions. They hear their parents discussing their personal unhappiness when they are unable to attend a family event because of the miles that separate today’s family.
The nucleus of the present family is often made up of the parents and their children due to the new lifestyle I call, the ‘great move’ because of better jobs, better weather, or for a new adventure.
Young Families Crave Family
I’m aware that our adult children and grandchildren crave family togetherness because my family suggests ideas for get-togethers months in advance. Obviously, this is because they look forward to spending time with family members.
For a time, my husband Shelly, pooch America, and I were constantly traveling to visit family. During these times together we shared stories and gave our grandchildren the gift of a wonderful family experience to store in their heads. This is a teaching mechanism without teaching! It is showing them by example. Shelly and I never say no to an invitation unless there is an extenuating circumstance and never over an existing social event. My daughter-in-law and I are always at the helm of the event. This shows our grandchildren the importance of the family that plays together stays together.
Tradition, Tradition!
The word tradition reminds me of the play, Fiddler on the Roof. The Fiddler can easily fall off a rooftop while playing his fiddle. So can the traditions of a family’s culture, religion, and family lifestyle. Therefore, in order to be a woman with purpose, we must keep family traditions alive. Tradition, tradition, and more tradition is a gift to leave in our grandchildren’s heads so they will crave this as adults.
Traditions are Maintained Through Storytelling
My mother saved the first letter my father wrote inviting her on a first date. She was 18 years old. The letter will survive because I will have it laminated and eventually hand it down to one of my grandchildren. My mother also saved and carefully put away every card my brother and I sent to her and every note we wrote to her.
She had a fairy to guard and protect her that I gave her twenty-five years ago. She hung it in a special place and now it has come back to guard me, hanging in a treasured place in my home. (Read my story about how it brought me hope, here.)
Family photographs of my great-grandparents and the rest of our family are also displayed perfectly like fine stones placed in a setting of jewelry.
My mother’s fairy now hangs in my office window, where I look at it daily.
My mother and father and grandparents had holiday celebrations and all my relatives spent happy times with one another. This was not lost on me as a child and I am sure your childhoods are not lost on you. These traditions we observe are forever ingrained in us.
It is now up to us to pass the torch of tradition to our young families. How many of us wish we’d written down stories from our parents or grandparents? This is why I wrote my book, Stories for My Grandchild, so that all women have a way to share their stories. It’s a journal with prompts that you can sit down with your grandchild and share your stories (in a way that won’t simply fly out of their heads, as some things do). It is a legacy to cherish and pass on.
I Am My Mother’s Daughter
I am grateful that I had a wonderful mother to share her “mom wisdom.”
I carry all of my family’s stories and traditions in my head. She taught me well as did my grandmothers and grandfathers and other relatives. Their way of life, their thoughts, their ideas, their culture, their delicious cultural recipes, their work ethic, their charitable hearts, their warmth, and their vitality are who I am. And, your traditions are similar in style to your family’s.
“We are the glue that holds the family together and we also hold all the combinations to our family’s past. We are the storytellers and teachers who can present vivid stories of our past and teach our grandchildren the importance of family traditions.” — Honey Good
Family traditions should be integrated into our grandchildren’s life with personal family stories from grandma. You have the delicious opportunity to introduce your grandchildren to each relative. Tell them the story of why and how their great-grandparents immigrated to America. Explain what they experienced in order to adapt to a new life. Tell their love stories. Tell your story!
I display family possessions in our home. I am certain you do also. But, have you taken your grandchildren by the hand and said, “Your great-grandmother gave this to me. I treasure it because I loved her so much. Let me tell you a story about her.”
If you wish to gift the legacy of your truth and your stories to your kids and grands, buy my book.
The Art of Sentimental Gift-Giving
I also send only sentimental gifts and notes of love.
Now my grandchildren, including all the boys, send me sentimental gifts. This is another tradition in our family. Gifts should be from the heart expressing love. Because of this, they sent me a small heart, a turtle to add to my collection, a magic wand (I am big on magic wands), a saying (I am big on sayings).
One grandson sent me a yellow flower pot with a lavender flower to plant because he knows I am a nature lover. Gifts from the heart are a tradition in our family.
A Family’s Moral Code
The moral code of a family is passed down from generation to generation. Talk about your grandchildren’s great-grandfather and his hard work ethic and your great-grandmother inviting people in for dinner who were in need of help. Talk about their first relative to graduate from college and an uncle who had the courage to move to a foreign country to strike out on his own, and on, and on.
Buy my book here and fill it out with your grandchild!
The Voice of Tradition
Grandmothers and women are the voice of tradition. Scream out with your stories. Send texts, emails, go on Facebook, call them on Facetime, the phone, or use Zoom. Whatever it takes! Don’t allow the family links to snap.
Darling, keeping traditions alive is much tougher today. We are all “Fiddlers on the Roof” who can easily fall off the roof just as our traditions can fall out of vogue if we allow it. So, we won’t.
We will try a little harder, and travel a little further, and love a little harder, because we are the guardians of the gate. We are in charge of keeping traditions alive in our family. Amen.
What are some of your favorite family traditions? Have you passed them on to your children and grandchildren? Please tell me in the comments at the bottom of this page. I would love to hear them!
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You have very nice products. I spent time on your sight because I notice the word tradition. As a mother and grandmother who asked as a child, ” Tell me how you met dad and where did grandmas family come from, I know the importance of tradition. A few years ago Abrams Press in New York asked me to be their author of a book they wanted to take to press. They found me on the Internet and after reading my stories and seeing me, they said, “You are a hip 21st Century grandmother and we would like you to write a book on family and tradition. It is on my site and on Amazon. The title is SStories for my Grandchild. Have a lovely week-end. Honey Good.