I had always had a feeling that Family Traditions were good for my kids – turns out I was right..
Christmas is coming and the Children have already started making their list for Santa. I’m sure I’m not the only one who wants Christmas to be about so much more. I always had a feeling that family traditions and rituals were good for kids – it turns out I was right.
Over the last 50 years, researchers have found that not only do traditions and rituals make us feel good, they also make our families happier, healthier and smarter.
This isn’t just confirmed to events and celebrations, but every day life. For example, Children who are read to every day, and sit down with their parents every day for dinner seem to be more academic than their peers without such rituals. Equally, families that partake in festive traditions such as making Christmas cookies, Christmas crafts, decorating the tree as a family, Elf on the Shelf, or opening an advent calendar every day of December in anticipation of Christmas, are actually improving the children’s social skills by encouraging them to develop their language, negotiation skills and feelings of closeness and belonging.
This is because parents/ carers are investing time and meaning into their family interactions, which in turn provides a sense of belonging to the family group and personal identity. As rituals and traditions typically take time and effort, parents who are able to create family rituals, have done so very deliberately and with a lot of thought. Therefore it is indicated in these studies that the children of these parents tend to be well adjusted.
It is hard to determine whether kids are happier with traditions and rituals, or whether the studies are just proof that healthy families that have traditions, have happy children. Either way, I am up for stepping up the Christmas tradition for this year. With 3 little kids and hundreds of memories to make, making time for us all to be together over Christmas is going to be top of my tradition list.
If you want some ideas of traditions to start with your family, follow my Instagram - @hyggehaus_official