THE IMPORTANCE OF TRADITION
Cast
back your mind to some good times you had with your child in your own
family. Perhaps you remember the trips to Changi beach with yourparents
and siblings, to spend the day swimming and eating huge quantities of
food. Or maybe it was the annual get-together with a whole gang of relatives
at granma's house, to celebrate granma's birthday. Or maybe it is something
like a regular gathering of sorts at an uncle's place in Malacca, where
you caught up with your Malaysian cousins and had bicycle races, while
the uncles and aunts talked long and loud over curry puffs and hot tea…Those
were fun days, weren't they?
Good family memories are made of shared experiences like this. Think about activities you can share with your child to build a base of strong memories, which in turn will build a closer relationship. 'You have to be with a child today to be in his or her memories tomorrow.' At one level, these activities are shared between you and your child. At another level, there are family activities, and on a larger scale, activities with a bigger group of relatives and friends or the community.
The foundations of memory-making traditions are rituals, routines and the ridiculous. Rituals are special observances, ceremonies or celebrations, and they can be very important to children. Perhaps you have a special way of celebrating the last day of school (or the first). Or perhaps you celebrate every family member's birthday in a certain special way. You could even have special celebrations for National Day, or New Year's Eve with a whole bunch of people. Rituals are basically regular events, formal or informal, which provide emotional security and strengthen family bonds. In a child's world, and on a child's level of understanding, there is always a certain set of procedures that must be followed. This consistency is important. Younger children, particularly enjoy familiar activities and they enjoy repetition.
Routines are simpler activities that are pleasurable without the abundance and enthusiasm of rituals. A bedtime routine of shared stories is an enjoyable one, as are weekly dips in the pool as a family.
Ridiculous activities are those daily activities which, done with a twist, provide lots of fun for children. Simple things like calling family members by inverting their names (eg.'Tom dear' becomes 'Mot dear'), or singing nonsense songs or doing a crazy dance to the song on the radio breaks the sameness of daily life and brings out healthy laughter.
These 3 Rs each have a quality that your child loves. Rituals are special and exciting. Routines are familiar and comfortable. And the Ridiculous has fresh spontaneity. Think about activities you share with your child, and explore further opportunities for further memory-making traditions. Enjoy them!
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