A New Tradition

If you know me, you know how strongly I feel about family traditions. I have created a whole document that lists each tradition we celebrate in our family each month. We had the opportunity a couple of years ago to be featured in Family Fun magazine for a tradition that we created and celebrate each year. That was a great experience for our family. I think traditions are what make our family complete. They draw us together, they create lasting memories, and they give us a sense of community.

Yesterday, I had an idea of a new tradition that we are going to begin implementing. Every year around this time, we have parent/teacher conferences at school. The conferences were very encouraging as we met with each teacher. We had an opportunity to see the love and commitments they have for our children. We also had the opportunity to hear about how our children are behaving, interacting with others, and learning at school. We were given examples of how our children are living out the mission of our family and we didn't even know it. It was a time as a mom where I was so proud and thankful.

We left those conferences feeling the need to honor our children in some way. We don't want to always just throw money and gifts at them for the good things they do. We want them to do the right thing because it is the right thing to do, not just to get a reward. Thus begins the new tradition: Parent/ Kid Conferences. We have decided each year after we have our Parent/Teacher conferences to meet as a couple with each of our children and share with them what we learned. We want to affirm them in their strengths and positive character traits that were shared by their teachers and challenge them constructively in their weaknesses and areas of struggle. I am looking forward to sitting down with Rick and each child individually and sharing with them how proud I am of them. I want to encourage them to be the person God made them to be and acknowledge how they are already doing that. I want to call them to a higher standard in their areas of weakness in a way that motivates them and uplifts them rather than demeaning or criticizing them. I can't wait to share with them how proud I am and show them how their lives are impacting others. Just thinking about this new tradition gets me all excited!!! I will let you know how it goes.