We all have the traditions that we grew up with that still hold a special place in our hearts. For me, I can immediately think of a few that really were dearly special to me. Hopefully, my future children will be able to experience and appreciate many of these traditions as well.
- Donuts! Donuts! Donuts!
Growing up, my parents both went to work early so my brother and I would be dropped off at our daycare before the bus would pick us up. Fridays for us were extra sweet because we always started our morning with a trip to Maple Donuts with our dad. We would go through the drive-thru and each gets a selection of donut holes. We even had a chant as we pulled up: “Donuts! Donuts! Donuts!” This tradition lasted until we both were out of daycare. After we left though we still got to have these moments when we had early morning appointments at the dentist or doctor before school. The ladies at Maple Donuts still recognize me and I LOVE visiting there to grab donuts and reminisce on those fun times.
- Ornament of the Year
My mom had a tradition that every year my brother and I would each get an ornament to unwrap on Christmas Eve. After we opened it we could hang it on the tree and it slowly built up our ornament collections. This gave us something to look forward to before Christmas. It is exciting to hang all of our ornaments up each year and watch the collection grow. Even now, we still get an ornament each year. Once we move out we can take these with us and start our own tree ornament collections with an already flourishing collection of cute and personalized ornaments.
Check the link below to see if you own any of the yearly Hallmark Ornaments, I know I do!
https://www.hookedonhallmark.com/keepsake-hallmark-ornaments-by-year.html
- It’s going to be a long six more weeks of winter!
Groundhog Day is on February 2nd. It is marked on the U.S. calendar and is a popular tradition in North America. Every year, without a doubt, we set our alarms early to wake up and tune in to the Groundhog Day event on TV. My dad would grab us donuts and we would sit and anticipate whether the famous Punxsutawney Phil would see his shadow or not. It was so exciting to go to school and tell everyone what Phil had predicted and share how much fun I’d had. Even this year I found myself setting an alarm to wake up and check out what Phil had predicted, I wasn’t surprised to find that he had seen his shadow and predicted 6 more weeks of winter.
- MOOOOOO!
The next tradition occurred each January during the week of my birthday. Many people who live locally are familiar with the Pennsylvania Farm Show. Even when it snowed and PA was frozen, my parents, brother, and I took the trip over to Harrisburg to visit the Farm Show. It felt special that it had happened on my birthday, and made me feel excited as my birthday approached each year. I still go every single year and love bringing other people to introduce them to the magic of the Farm Show Milkshakes, cute animals, and yummy baked potatoes. These are just a few things that the show has to offer.
- “Turn your phones on silent, the movie is about to begin!”
Every New Year’s Eve, my family celebrated the end of the year and welcomed a new year by going to see a movie at Regal as a family. While I will admit, my brother and I didn’t always agree on the movie selections, it always ended up being a great time. It was a chance for us to bond and all see something together while sucking down slushies and popcorn.
- Grandma’s Christmas Eve Rager
My grandparents knew how to host. They used to have people over for many holidays and events like Halloween, Christmas, New Years, etc. But none of them truly compared to the annual Christmas Eve party they held. Families and friends from all over knew to come over in the late evening and celebrate. My grandma cooked the most amazing food and prepped enough to feed an entire army. She had her world-famous fudge and sherbet punch that was to die for. I remember many Christmases of running around with other kids at the party and having fun before going back home to go to bed super late. It was so fun and always something to look forward to each year, it was sad when my grandparents could no longer host. I hope when I am older I can have those kinds of gatherings for families and friends to all come together and just have the best time.
I could write about my childhood traditions and great memories forever. I am so grateful for the experiences I was given and hope one day I can do these kinds of things with my own little family.
HCXO,
Madi