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Holiday traditions bring families together
11/19/08
DENTON —
Whether cooking special dishes, decorating a Christmas tree
or watching a movie together, establishing holiday traditions
are important to building strong families.
Dr. Joyce Armstrong,
associate professor of family sciences at Texas Woman’s
University, says that developing rituals around the holidays
are critical to creating a sense of belonging among family
members.
“People value
traditions because they see them as a time of togetherness
for sharing and strengthening relationships,” she said.
“Individuals in families, in particular children, need
to feel that they have a set of common values with one another.”
To create new family
traditions, Dr. Armstrong first recommends that families get
together and discuss what is most important to them, what
they would like to do together and how they can make this
happen.
“The common
theme around the holidays is sharing time together. Carving
out time for family traditions is important and it’s
beneficial to have the whole family involved in the planning
process,” she said.
Dr. Armstrong says
that in these uncertain economic times, families can establish
traditions inexpensively with activities such as playing board
games, watching a holiday TV show or movie, making homemade
decorations or gifts, decorating the Christmas tree, going
out to look at holiday decorations, cooking together, etc.
She also says that
families can look to the past for things that their parents
and grandparents did at the holidays and re-establish these
rituals in a new way for their families.
“Sharing
these stories about past holidays and looking through photographs
each year can help establish a sense of a family tradition.”
Dr. Armstrong says
that often in the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping, decorating
and extra obligations, time with family can be overlooked.
She adds that holidays get people together and the particular
activities are not as important as simply spending time together.
“What is
important about family traditions is the recurring, planned
time with family members that can give children, parents and
relatives a sense of connectedness that is becoming more difficult
as families become increasingly separated in today’s
society,” she said. “Holiday traditions help families
remain close because they create a connection between the
past and future.”
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Media Contact:
Amanda Simpson
Director of News and Information
Tel: (940) 898-3456
e-mail: asimpson1@twu.edu |
