What Does It Look Like? - Family Traditions (Part Trois)

What Does It Look Like? - Family Traditions (Part Trois)

I figure all any kid needs is hope and the feeling he or she belongs. —Elvis Presley

I KNOW I’M NOT ALONE in this. Surely other mothers and grandmothers out there are curious about how to create family traditions that provide our children and grandchildren a sense of belonging and, so importantly, a sense of who they are.

As I mentioned, when my children were younger, we didn’t create many significant traditions to teach our family history, social values, or connection to our faith. As a young working mother, just getting the turkey on the table was a challenge! But I’m older now, with a lot less on my mind, which has given me time to create and plan traditions that I hope will cement Ava’s sense of belonging.

Ava was three weeks old on her first Christmas Eve when she received the first installment of a new family tradition—a membership to the Sugar and Ava Book Club. In this book club, Ava will receive from me, every birthday and every Christmas, a book that was significant to me when I was her age. We will read this book together, sharing the valuable lessons experienced by the characters. Can you imagine the fun we will have doing this when Ava is ten years old? And when she’s thirty, do you not think she will still enjoy the sharing of a wonderful story with her grandmother? And by the time Ava turns fifty, I imagine it will be Ava who will be gifting the books to her grandchild.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

Yes, Ava will know that she belongs and what value systems we share through the reading of our books. What are you reading with your grandchildren?