Whether it’s Christmas, Easter, Mothers/Fathers day, birthdays or Thanksgiving… holiday traditions can be a source of blessing or of grief. With our guest we unpack the traditions that have worked – and failed – for us and discussed strategies for being intentional in how we create our family culture.

Guest:

Kiara is the mother of three toddlers and a long-time contributor to CathFamily – a free online database for Catholic Families and catechists. She is a doctoral student in International Relations.

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The Take Home

Traditions Audit

This is a great thing to do at the beginning of your marriage and various transition points such when babies arrive or children become teenagers etc. It’s also good to do if you are experiencing discord in your marriage.

1. Set aside an hour or so well in advance of your event.
2. Individually, make a list of your traditions, or expectations for your traditions.
3. Do a cost-benefit analysis on each one: How much is this tradition costing in terms of time, energy, money? How much is it giving back in terms of positive memories, virtue development, relationships?
4. Now do an audit on your childhood traditions. What expectations, hopes, anxieties, fears do they evoke?
5. Now share your insights and talk about the key values you’d like to preserve in your family traditions.