Growing up, we just had normal traditions for holidays; but not really any others. My mom wasn't really into traditions at all back then. The ones we had were mostly because of when my grandparents.
~Thanksgiving was at my maternal grandparent's house
~ Christmas was at my maternal grandparent's house at noon, and we would stop in at my paternal great-grandparents house either before or after
~ We opened gifts at home on Christmas morning. There were no presents from parents or each other (until we got old enough to buy them) - only from Santa. Stockings were opened last.
~ Dad always got us something for Valentines Day - usually a box of chocolates
~ We had easter baskets until I was about 13 and my brother 10, both at home and my grandma's house. Sometimes grandma would have an egg hunt and hide our baskets
~ On summer nights, when we stayed the night at my grandparents, we would catch lightening bugs in our pajamas. When August came around and there were no more fireflies, we gathered locust shells.
~ In nice weather, we would sit on the porch swing with my grandpa and play the car game - everyone picked a different color or type of vehicle, and then we would count how many went by. (They lived on a busy highway.)
~ G'ma always made our birthday cakes
Now, my mom is all about traditions; and gets really upset when we want to give her traditions up after a few years.
At our house,
~ New school clothes shopping for dd = a day at our big shopping town over an hour away, with lunch anywhere she chooses
~ Big birthday parties/cook-outs
~ Movie nights with popcorn and our fave movie candy
~ Elfing or Blessing at Christmas
~ Our annual Easter dinner and egg hunt (I was thinking of stopping this year since dd is 12 and nephew is 14, but he has already been talking about it.)
~ We always do something special as a family that we don't normally do any other time during the year on Labor Day - like mini golf, horseback riding, journeying somewhere new to eat, etc.
