My favorite family ritual expert, Meg Cox, published her third book on family rituals, The Book of New Family Traditions (Revised and Updated): How to Create Great Rituals for Holidays and Every Day.
In her winter newsletter, Meg Cox shared a story about a couple who lost their 13-year-old son in an accident. He had loved the family's practice of sitting down every Sunday night and lighting a single candle. Each family member would declare his and her "intentions" for the coming week. In honor of their deceased son, the family called on everyone in their circle of friends to follow this special ritual on Sunday nights in his memory.
I love this simple yet profound ritual, and agree with Meg that we can create all sorts of deep and effective traditions using nothing more than one candle and our own focus. Since 9/11, my husband and I have lit a candle every night at dinner and then we say something we're grateful for that day.
9th Anniversary GaGa Sisterhood Celebration
At our annual anniversary-holiday party, 21 GaGas gathered to celebrate at Carol W's beautiful home. Cheri was so grateful she did not have to report for jury duty that morning, she wrote to thank me the minute she got home.
Carol's gracious hospitality was warm and festive and provided all of us the perfect venue to celebrate GaGa Sisterhood's 9th birthday and the holidays. I drove all the way home with a smile on my face!
We all were smiling as we took in the decorations in every room. Carol's 5 grandchildren help her decorate every year. Her 2 oldest granddaughters decorate the tree, carefully hanging over a hundred ornaments.
We enjoyed a delicious potluck lunch at her beautifully appointed table set with gold place mats and plates. Then shared our favorite holiday stories of how we celebrate with our grandchildren.
Favorite Holiday Traditions
Marching Music: Donna V plays a Christmas CD that includes March of the Toy Soldiers. Nana becomes a toy soldier and marches around the house while her 7-year old granddaughter and 10-year old grandson look on in dismay. She's been doing it ever since they were infants. This year she grabbed a broom for a prop!
Bag Lady Doll: Kathy displays all non-breakable ornaments so her 4-year old grandson can help decorate and touch everything. One of his favorites is a Bag Lady doll that sings "Jingle Bell Rock," a white elephant gift from many years ago. Liam loves to tap his foot along with the bag lady.
Muppet Christmas: Donna P always plays the Muppet CD and especially enjoys the "Peace Song." She creates a Christmas manger with 2 of everything so the grandchildren can all play with it.
Candle in the Window: Helena sings "Here Comes Santa Claus" on Christmas Eve and they eat shepherd's pie. She puts a candle in the window for strangers who may be passing by and don't have a place to eat, an Irish tradition she grew up with.
Hanukkah latkes: Cheri grates 20 lbs. of potatoes and has a marathon frying session resulting in 250 potato pancakes for her annual Hanukkah parties.
Real live Santa: Every year since her children were little, Janada has a "real live" Santa Claus for the family celebration. The same Santa suit has been worn by her dad, her first husband, and now her second husband.
White Elephant: Carol T and her family have a white elephant exchange. Her son collects unusual items like stuffed ducks and writes haiku on them. The laughs and fun are hilarious.
Neighborhood Celebration: Diane L and husband are surrogate grandparents to neighbors. They get invited to their house for Christmas morning. Diane hosts a neighborhood Hanukkah party for all the kids and hand delivers the invitations. Jon tells the story of Hanukkah, they play dreidl, and eat jelly doughnuts instead of latkes.
Christmas Eve Party: Sandy D hosts a Christmas Eve party for friends who don't have family close by. Her husband dons a Santa suit and gives gifts to all the friends. The adults sit on Santa's lap and their 6-year old grandson, Jake is Santa's elf helper and hands out the presents.
Christmas Eve Granny Camp: Marilyn hosts Christmas Eve dinner for her 3 daughters, their spouses/partners, children, and dogs. They hang up their stockings and all sleep over for the surprise of finding presents from Santa the following morning.