Rethinking Holiday Traditions

When you grow up, leave the nest, and start life as an adult life inevitably changes. One thing that I have grown an appreciation for in the recent past as been reinventing holiday traditions. Some traditions can be started serendipitously while others are well planned. No matter how you get there; your family traditions are important to periodically re-evaluate. In the past three years, since graduating from college, my family has made a series of small changes that I feel have positively impacted everyone's stress levels and given way to enjoying simple pleasures.

This metamorphosis began accidentally, and what seemed like a disaster at the time bred a new tradition. Three years ago my sister Angie and her fiance (my now brother-in-law) Ryan purchased their first home. Excited to have us all up for thanksgiving, Angie went all out in buying groceries for the big day. Little did she know that her oven would be inconveniently uncooperative; the day before Thanksgiving she turned it on to heat up a batch of homemade mac-n-cheese only to find that her pilot light went out and needed to be replaced. With no time left we needed a new plan for where and what we were going to eat. Since Chinatown and Denny's seemed to be the only viable options we opted to go out for Vietnamese food. It was new to Ryan, but my family had always loved frequenting our favorite Vietnamese restaurant, Cali's, in Montreal's Chinatown. While strange at first, it helped us step back and think about the roles each of us play and if they led to a fulfilling holiday. Before this mini-drama we would head up to my parent's place in upstate NY and my mom would cook for the better part of two days. It was an exhausting affair and in the end it seemed more like work that play. Now, three years later we pile into the car and go out for Vietnamese, which makes the Thanksgiving much less stressful and  easier because of my sister's weight loss efforts and my gluten intolerance the whole day is more tummy friendly.

A tiny appliance blip was a blessing in disguise because it allowed us all to take a step back and simplify our family traditions. Now I feel empowered to say... "Hey, why don't we try..." and hopefully you will too. Afterall, the holidays should be about enjoying the company of your loved ones, rather than being a slave to the kitchen and even more so the leftovers and the clean-up. If you try this approach for yourself, let me know of your results in the comments below; I'd love to hear about your new traditions as I'm sure there are many worthy of adoption.