Oh For Simpler Times
I keep seeing people online posting about the joys of creating a slower, more mindful lifestyle. People are moving back to more traditional ways of life and I’m here for it as they say. It seems people miss and are longing for the olden days when things felt just a little simpler. Creating a traditional style home life is, of course, built from tradition. It is not new but as it is coming back into fashion to live a more traditional life I am eager to share my tips on how my family and I foster this lifestyle in our home.
Traditional Traditions
I love good old-fashioned traditions and I like having unique family traditions that are passed down to generations so like what many are beginning to do more and more I am doing too. I have always been a traditionalist but it’s become even more accessible with things like social media and the internet to learn truly old traditional skills and implement them into our everyday lives.
Tradition is something that I feel is incredibly important, especially in raising children. I believe that it instills a lot of core morals and values and presents children with an early example and opportunity to partake in a strong work ethic, encouragement in learning, and long-lasting family bonds.
The Traditional List
Here are the big categories of traditions that we have within our household and ones that are pretty simple to implement for any family.
1. Holidays and birthday traditions:
Holidays and birthdays were something that I thought almost always carried with them traditions, but I’ve met a surprising number of people who don’t have family traditions during these fun times. This is one of the simplest and most basic areas to add traditions to your household. It’s a fun and creative way to bring extra magic for kids and even adults to already special days. It can be so impactful in fact that many children grow up and carry those traditions into their new families for their children to enjoy. How cool is that!?
2. Nightly reading or devotions:
This one may be more centered around children when it comes to reading a book together each night; although, reading a book together or just having quiet time together to read individual books with your spouse is also a unique tradition to implement. My husband and I do nightly devotions together and also with our daughter in addition to reading her a book each night before bed. I find it’s a time I look forward to each night! Make it extra special by switching up books and devotions per the season and even lighting a candle to make the time extra cozy. Some devotions even bring in hymns and children’s books have songs for singing which can be even more of a unique and impactful bonding experience.
3. Cooking and baking:
Cooking and baking daily may not be so much a tradition as just feeding the family but if you cook as a family it is an enjoyable activity to do and one that can quickly become a looked-forward-to tradition. I love baking with my daughter it’s a fun (albeit messy) way to make memories and bond, and it’s a great educational tool for kiddos too! As they get older it’s fun to have your child do a little more to “help”.
One great way to include children in the kitchen is to do a fun activity like decorating cookies, cakes, or candy. This activity is not just fun but can be a tradition for years to come. Baking is something you can center around holidays like decorating Christmas cookies but you can honestly whip up cookies whenever you want. Whether it’s a craving or just wanting to do something fun with your kids decorating cookies is an all year round friendly activity because you can decorate them however you want!
If you don’t have kids cooking with your husband is amazing for bonding and wonderful memories too. When my husband and I were still in the dating stages some of my favorite memories were cooking in the kitchen together and sitting down for an extra special meal.
No matter your family situation, have a night a week where you cook dinner as a family and turn on music or play a game while you do it – fun and productive with lasting memories for the win!
4. Daily and nightly traditions:
Do you have a morning or bedtime ritual? Do you have a bedtime routine for your baby or small children? Some of the things we do throughout our day or evening can become traditions in a household. From your cleaning schedule to your tricks in the kitchen, to even folding towels these things can become traditions your children learn and carry with them into adulthood with their own families.
Teaching your family, even your spouse, tips and tricks you’ve learned or been taught yourself from perhaps your parents are simple things to pass along to your family. Turn monotonous tasks into teaching moments and make them fun. Listening to a song and dancing while you clean the kitchen not only makes it a whole lot more fun but is a great way to make memories and create a tradition you can do with your children and spouse and they can do the same when they are grown with children of their own.
Even your nightly skincare routine can be something your child watches you intently do and will one day mimic when they are older. You never know what thing your child might pick up on, absorb, or connect with that they carry with them as they grow. Because of this, I try to include my daughter in a variety of activities even if that’s just putting on lipstick to start my day she is completely fascinated to watch and learn.
Don’t Over Complicate Things
Channel the past generations and keep things simple like the simpler times we crave. Traditions don’t have to be elaborate or planned or even expertly executed they can and often are created in spontaneity. The best traditions seem to come naturally and from the heart and as cheesy as that sounds think about your own traditions or the moments that stay with you that you fondly think back to and odds are those are the memories that surface.
As great as the internet is and as much as we can learn even about traditions of generations past, it can also complicate things. We now have way too many choices for things and sometimes as handy as information can be it can also cause complete overwhelm. Focus on the here and now as best you can. Live life in the moment, put the camera of your phone down and be present in the moment instead. It’s fine to take pictures here or there and document but you can’t create memories or traditions without being a part of the life happening around you so focus on that first and foremost.
Tradition Doesn’t Always Mean Traditional
We have a traditional household in general with our family members’ roles. My husband works outside the home while I care for our daughter and I am the primary when it comes to housework and cleaning. We have chosen to homeschool our daughter as well and hope to do a moderate homestead which would entail a garden and perhaps chickens.
While it makes things perhaps a bit easier to delineate between roles and responsibilities with this structure you can still have a traditional household with a few caveats while focusing on creating traditions.
Growing up my mom worked outside of the home around the time I turned two and continued to do so for my entire childhood. This was not preferred but was a financial need, but my parents still had a very traditional relationship with roles being overall traditional in the home. Some things can make having what we often think of as traditional a challenge but not impossible. In these situations, we have to switch up the framework a bit but focus on creating a traditional home bursting with traditions where you can.
Traditional Goals
The goal of having a traditional home is to create a safe and joyful place for your family with lasting fond memories and behaviors and traits for your children to carry throughout their lives. This may look different for each family but there is an arc of similarities that most traditional families have. Using this as your core base and then where needed editing it to fit the requirements of your family (e.g. mother working outside the home for financial reasons) is the key to having a successful traditional family home.
What Traditional Is Thought To Mean
These are generally the top core values of what we think of historically when it comes to being a traditional household:
- Father, mother, and children
- Values and morals
- Family traditions
- Father provides financially
- Mother cares for the home and children
- Working together as a family (on a farm, garden, homestead, within the home)
Traditional Of Today
Today, family dynamics often look very different. Despite the list above being the historical traditional family structure, whatever complications come into play due to political and religious beliefs and current societal standards can all affect the outcome of individual families and their structure as it did in my household growing up.
If you utilize the list above and can see where you are making edits either due to choice or a need you now have the parameters of which to follow to create a historically traditional family in your own unique way.
In my opinion, the most important portion of a traditional family is how you are raised from an ethical and moral perspective. This is a standard that can be carried out through most households but can have a lasting impact even on adults as much as children.
Just because society is different today than it was a few generations back doesn’t mean we can’t implement some of the good from the past while adding in the good of today. This is a healthy and happy medium that I believe takes the best of both worlds and marries them together perfectly. This fosters a great environment for adults and children alike and builds those lasting core memories, foundational supports, and comforting and nostalgic traditions that we all crave and love.
Go Forth In Your Traditions
I hope understanding more of the traditional family and home along with what we do in our household to promote and keep a traditional lifestyle and lasting traditions helps you along your journey if you are seeking the same for you and your household. It is truly so fulfilling and brings joy even amidst the hardest times in life. No matter where I am in life or what age I am there is always something I find that I get to look forward to, even if it’s the little things in life, thanks to the traditions and family dynamic we have created in our home. I hope you find the same in yours – go forth in forging your traditional traditions!
Traditional Inspiration
If you are looking for some inspiration in creating a traditional home life then stay tuned as I will be posting even more content on this topic. I have quite a few posts that center around traditional aspects in my homemaking and family sections here on the blog. I have a free cleaning checklist that will help you keep your home clean all year round if you are in the traditional homemaking role in your family. You can download it by signing up for my email list on the homepage and clicking on the button that says “Download Your Checklist!”.
