Traditions

The holiday season is officially upon us! Driving down the street, you can see Christmas trees through windows, lights strung up outside, and decorations in the stores with Christmas music playing. You may have started your own Christmas decorating or traditions! If you’re lucky enough to get snow this month, maybe you can make snow angels or snowball fights. We don’t get snow where I live, so our city traditions include a Christmas parade and a Candy Cane Lane.
Traditions are something a person, family, or community does repeatedly. It can be Christmas traditions like opening stockings before breakfast, an Easter tradition like dyeing hard-boiled eggs to make into an egg salad or deviled eggs.
Traditions don’t just exist in holidays. It could be a religious ceremony, or something you do when an important life milestone happens. As an example, I have a friend whose family tradition when someone gets a college degree is to take them out to their favorite restaurant and to an activity of their choice. I have a tradition with my boyfriend for our anniversaries. Our first date was at a mini-golf course and Applebee’s, so on our first anniversary, we went back and took a picture of our hands in the shape of a heart with the moon behind it. For our second anniversary, we held our friends in front of the number two marker for the second hole on the course. In 12 days for our third anniversary, we are going to take a photo with our hands in front of the third marker. I told him he can’t break up with me until we finish all the holes.
Traditions can also be cultural practices. As an example, smudging is a Native American/indigenous practice where you burn herbs such as sage to purify an area, person, or gathering. A quinceañera is a big party thrown when a girl turns 15 in Mexican culture. A Japanese tradition could include simply taking your shoes off at the door.
Traditions are a way to see what matters to a person or a culture. The quinceañera is a coming-of-age celebration in which a girl becomes a woman. While a fifteen-year-old is no longer considered a woman, it is a special event that many look forward to.
When the holidays start really showing this December, try to keep an eye out for other traditions you see. What are they? Do you celebrate?
Make sure you are kind and considerate!