3.4 - And Repeat (Did We Always Do That?)

Families repeat certain habits and behaviors.

Beyond the annual events at Christmas, Easter, birthdays, Fourth of July, etc.,

we tend to follow certain rituals throughout the year.

Some are fun and we can’t wait to do them, like a Sunday trip to the boardwalk with your parents when you’re eight years old.

Others become boring after a while, like a Sunday trip to the boardwalk with your parents when you’re a teenager.

Whether we loved them or hated them, they shaped us, and we may even have continued them with our children.

What events were regular doings in your family?

Write a few paragraphs that identify each. Expand on your thoughts about those events then and now.

 

Example

Sundays

Spending Sunday afternoons at my parents’ house was a tradition that probably had its beginnings in spending Sundays with my grandmothers when I was growing up.

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My father’s mother, Babci to us, lived with us. For lunch almost every Sunday, she would make a chicken dinner of soup and a boiled chicken legs. The soup was buttery-flavored and tasty and filled with her homemade noodles. Though we didn’t sit around a table and eat together all the time, the meal itself became a tradition.

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On Sunday evenings, my mother would drive my brothers and me to visit her mother, Babu to us. My father usually didn’t come. He was happy to sit and watch TV in peace and quiet. At Babu’s, while my mother sat and talked with her mother, the kids would play outside or watch TV. Two elements kept us coming back. Babu would give us Pepsi-cola and potato chips and pretzels as a snack, and before we left she would give each of us a quarter.

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We came to expect the routine of both Babci’s and Babu’s food and sharing, but we also appreciated it. It’s not that my mother didn’t cook or give us money. For some reason, getting them from our grandmother’s on Sunday was special.

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After my grandmothers passed away, my mother continued to have a Sunday meal for us, though it wasn’t always chicken, soda, and chips. As my brothers went off to college, then to apartments, lives, and homes of their own, the Sunday tradition grew smaller. Still, when I became an adult and moved out on my own, I continued to visit my parents on Sunday afternoon and often stayed for dinner. When I married and had two sons of my own, I brought them and my husband along, too. The fact they had a swimming pool made it easier to keep up the tradition for my sons.

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We were lucky to live close enough that we could drive to see my parents. Though I admit, on some days it was close to being a chore to visit, I’m grateful the tradition was started and gave me time with my grandmothers and my parents.