Family Traditions - What's in your jumping pile?

As we enter the holiday season, many of us will embrace traditions that have been part of our heritage for years. Others will begin seeking out that magical memory that will become a part of your family's story for the first time. Creating timeless traditions is one of the most important things you can do to strengthen family ties, and solidify the "We all" of family.

We always go to the mountains in Boone for Thanksgiving.
We always make cookies, and deliver them to neighbors during our annual Christmas caroling caravan.
We always snuggle together in the family room and sleep under the glow of the Christmas tree lights on December 23rd.
There are so many "we alls" woven into our family tapestry.

What is the "We all" of your family?
If you don't have any yet, or would love to pursue some purposeful traditions, I invite you to join me over the next few weeks as we brainstorm ideas on how to include once a month memory moments into our every day lives.
The Power of timeless traditions aren't just for the holidays, but they sure are a wonderful and easy place to begin.

Richard Eyre, the co-author of The Happy Family, describes one of the many traditions that are an important part of the successful family life.

THE LEAF STORY
"On my birthday in October, we had always raked huge piles of leaves with the kids and then jumped in them, stuffed them in our shirts, threw them in the air, and just generally had a wild time. We though, as the kids got older, their interest in such a frivolous activity would fade. On the contrary, when they were teens, the leaf piles just got bigger. Finally, one year, four of our children were away at school or living abroad. On my birthday, four birthday cards arrived. As I opened the first, a leaf fell out and a note, 'Dad, I honored your birthday tradition. Here's a leaf from my jumping pile. I love you.' Through my tears I opened the other three - and a leaf fell from each."

Many times in our hectic, fast paced lives, we forget to slow down and cherish the little things that truly matter. Quite often, they are right in front of us, just like this simple jumping pile, but we miss the opportunity to embrace it and change it from ordinary to extraordinary.
Throughout November and December, I want to share a few leaves from our jumping pile.

Won't you join me? I can't wait to hear yours.