Creating Family Traditions Cement Your Relationship
Creating family traditions is like mortor between the bricks of your relationship. New marriages often break down because couples haven’t bonded their lives together. It’s too easy to undo the ties. Relationships take time to gel, but we can move them along by creating memories to build on. Ask any marriage counselor and they’ll tell you that new relationships need time to develop and grow roots.
For example, it’s spring–and if you haven’t planned a summer getaway, then get busy!
But we’re broke! Not this year–we need to work and build back up our savings. Who’s got the time or money to take a vacation? These thoughts might be rambling around in your head, but here’s another thought:
You can’t afford not to.
Don’t think you need to spend a lot of money or make family traditions complicated.
Here are a few suggestions:
- Spring is here, so consider one day trips that are near your home.
- Plan an adult Easter Egg Hunt with friends and hide lottery tickets inside Easter Eggs.
- Start an annual cookout with neighbors–best hamburger or best ribs contest.
- Do you have water near your home? A river or creek? Then borrow someone’s raft or canoe and make the day of it.
- Plan and save for a weekend getaway for the fall. Start saving ten dollars a week toward your anniversary.
- Do you have a spring or summer birthday in your family? Make a big deal out it. Even if it’s decorating the house with paper chains and making a homemade cake–you can still celebrate the fact that your husband or wife was born. Get creative and make a homemade gift. Money isn’t the only thing you can spend–spent your time and energy on those you love.
- Surprise your wife with a bouquet of wildflowers. It’s spring and everything is blooming–and you can find a tree in bloom or a field of day lilies. I promise, she’ll smile.
- Ladies–what makes your guy smile? A plate of brownies? A night of pool and a pitcher of beer with friends? Start noticing what lightens his cares. Hey, if you want to really make him happy–wash and wax his car with him!
The point is to be thoughtful and nurture your marriage. Do something together. Have fun. Make a memory. This is paying into your emotional bank account–and when times get tough–you’ve already invested. Even when times get tough, traditions click in and you find yourself having that annual picnic, or that yearly rafting trip with friends–and you start having a good time together in spite of your current circumstances. Diffficult times come, yes, but they also go–and your marriage is worth the effort.
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