A time for family traditions

Traditions make the magic more magical I imagine you’ll have inherited some from your childhood. It’s also a great time to make some of your own.

My youngest always carries the tree from the market to the car and the car to the house. He’s done it for years. As a five year old it was a challenge, and he needed a little help. At 13, you could tell he felt it wasn’t making him look cool, but with encouragement he did it and it brought us all closer together.

We’ve got a lot of other little traditions and they’re the things that, as my kids, sorry teens, get older and become adults, and don’t live with us, those traditions are going to be even more important to us as a family.

If you’re in the early stages of family life, it’s worth having a little think about the traditions you’ve got. The things you already do that you could make more fuss around to turn them into meaningful moments that then become traditions, repeated enough. As lives, work, houses, finances and relationships change, traditions can keep us returning to each other to connect.

I used to be an angry, impatient dad. I’ve spent ten years researching and experimenting on how to be a more patient parent.

I’ve distilled what works into a book. The Patient Parent is a short, practical book for busy parents who want to make the most of the precious time with their kids before they grow up.

If that’s you, why not give the book a go?