Traditions Are Where It's At

Easter is over.
Spring break is almost over (one more day!).


Here's what I know for sure:


Lists are good.  

Even though we didn't get to everything on our list, we did a whole hell of a lot of STUFF. 

Spring Break staying home with a sick husband and a few germ-y kids is not for wimps.  I hit my breaking point several times.

Baseball is awesome.  

It was a great opening weekend to be a Detroit Tigers fan.  We celebrated with our annual "Opening Day Indoor Picnic."  There's something about having a picnic on the floor that the kids get so psyched about. 


Traditions are where it's at.
My mother was always very good at traditions and making all sorts of moments special, before she went crazy.  Christmas Eve we always sang carols together and had fondue.  First day of school meant pictures on the front porch.  Every holiday we had this special bread that we kids all fought to "braid" the dough. Halloween meant homemade costumes.  Easter bunny cake on Easter of course.  


From special food to songs, my family's traditions rocked.  Until they didn't.  Every single tradition stopped when my parents got divorced (when I was 12) and my mother began her journey down crazy lane.  My sister and I tried for years to keep some traditions alive.  And now we both work hard to create and keep traditions with our own families--some from our idyllic childhood and some new ones.


Traditions and rituals give everything more meaning.  They tell the story of a family.  These traditions will be the "remember when" stories my kids tell.  These traditions are the fabric of our family (not to sound like a cotton commercial aka "the fabric of our lives" but you know what I mean).


Yes, our tradition of the tricky Easter Bunny hiding Easter baskets in strange places like the bath tub or hanging from a ceiling fan might sound like a grown up having a a little fun at a kid's expense. But it is indeed the fabric of our family. (Who doesn't like to play tricks on kids? Geez.)


From bunny cake for Easter and Major League Baseball Opening Day picnics on the living room floor to fishing at the pond, this spring break was full of good old family traditions.