Family rituals

[pegkerr]

Tell me about one family ritual that you do that means a lot to you. I'm asking about everyday rituals, not holiday or special occasion ones. It could be from the family you grew up with or the family you're in now--or even somebody else's family, if it is a ritual you like and admire. I'm looking for a list of the little things that families do that build together memories, cohesion, trust and love.

When Rob and the girls and I eat dinner together, we go around the table and each person says one good thing that happened that day.

Whenever I'm driving with the girls and we see crows, we recite the rhyme:

One crow sorrow
Two crows joy
Three crows a girl
Four crows a boy
Five crows silver
Six crows gold
Seven crows a secret never to be told

And you?

Comments

[nmsunbear.livejournal.com]

In lieu of saying grace, before every meal (okay, every meal at home that's just the two of us) Arne and I hold hands and say "I love you."

Jeff (my brother) is the only visitor who generally gets included in this ritual. Generally when he's here we all hold hands, I say "I love you guys," and then we say "Happy dinner" to each other and eat.

We are also fairly ritualistic about always saying thank you for cooking and cleaning chores.

My mom used to enforce a road-trip ritual: Each of us would get a bag of M&Ms, and we could eat one every time we passed an exit. Jeff and I usually cheated, but Mom never ever did.

On road trips now, Arne and I play the horse game, only we keep adding new rules. Plus, he's driving so he can't really look, so I count for both of us.