Family Traditions

Your Assignment: Set a timer for five minutes. Make a list of family traditions or activities that you remember from your childhood and ones that you do with your family today. These do not have to relate to culture or holidays. When my daughter was young, every last day of summer we had a Mommy and Caitlin Day where we planned fun activities for just the two of us. Museum visits, a carousel ride, treats from the ice cream truck, a hike; we crammed as much fun into one day as possible. And as sad as it was to bid farewell to summer, we both looked forward to Mommy and Catlin Day.

Now that you have a long list, go through it and pick one to expand upon. Set your timer for ten minutes and write as many details about this tradition as you can recall. No detail is too small!

Optional if you have a character you’re developing: Now set your timer again for ten minutes and write about a character experiencing this particular tradition. How do they feel about it? Create details specific to the character and their family/friends.

Family Traditions:
When the kids were little, we sometimes did a piñata on New Years Eve. We always bang pots and pans outside.
March- St Patricks Days. We usually fix corn beef and cabbage, and sometimes add other Irish foods.
June - Big Piney, Wyoming. camping, fishing
July - When the kids were little we had a BBQ with their Uncle Kim, Aunt Allie and their kids. Sometimes, we invited others to come.
November - for about 15-20 years, we have gone to Maui for Thanksgiving.
Christmas - more centered around food traditions. Slush, gingerbread and sugar cookies. Christmas morning - Eggs Benedict, home made orange Julius. Turkey, ham, mashed potatoes. Eat and then open presents. Dad takes a long time to dole out the gifts. We wait for each person to open the gifts. Christmas Eve - for the last few years, we have made prime rib. We have acted out the nativity, sing songs, played games, usually always read from Luke about the birth of Christ.

Samena woke to Christmas music playing. This is my first Christmas with my new family. She clamored out of bed, and ran down the hall to see if Lucy was awake.
"Wake up, wake up, it's Christmas morning!"
Scrambling down the stairs, they ran into the living room where they could see what Santa had left. Samena could easily identify which one was hers; a soccer ball, and an American Doll, Marisol Luna, with some new clothes. Her stocking was bulging with candy and other small trinkets.
Suddenly, she had some terrible thoughts. What if they take this away? And even if my mom didn't want me, she had to love me, right? It was too much to think about.
"Can we open the gifts under the tree?" asked Lucy.
"Not yet; mom is making breakfast. Let's go see what we can do to help her," said Mack.
The kitchen table still had the beautiful decorations from the night before. Tinsel, little twinkle lights, and candles adorned the middle of the table.
"Samena, a tradition in our house is eating Eggs Benedict and homemade Orange Julius. Could you help me with the Orange Julius?" Julia asked.
When she started to speak, I almost went into that place in my head where I didn't feel anything because I was getting angry. This all could be temporary, and I felt like an imposter.