Tag: jeff noel

People Were Thankful

The Families we visited yesterday were very thankful for the Food donations that were delivered:

We visited an upscale home for the first time in ten years.  My son and I received warm and grateful greetings at every stop. One man even gave me a big hug.

I reminded our son (9) why we started this “three-times-a-year Food For Families tradition” ten years ago.

“If two boys are standing next to an adult, and one uses his manners and the other doesn’t which one do you think the adult will trust more?”

“If two adults say serving others is important, but one actually does and the other only hopes to one day, which one do you think God will say, well done?”

In telling our son why we do this, even though it may seem small, we are actually preparing ourselves to do more. By putting others first every Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter morning, we are developing a habit similar to using manners.

We are cultivating good habits.  That’s all we can really ask of ourselves, isn’t it?

Family Traditions

Family traditions help form a bond.  Traditions help give stability to people in a crazy, often times confusing world.

Traditions help families know who they are and what their family believes in.

Traditions help give order, and establish priorities.

Family traditions teach.  And mark the passage of time.

Family traditions celebrate.

Daily, weekly, monthly, seasonally, annually.

Family traditions are one of the most powerful midlife parenting tools available. But only if you focus on them. Ya with me?

Thanksgiving Tradition Cancelled?

“Dad, would you cancel Thanksgiving?”, my son responded brilliantly to my serious-sounding question.

I had just antagonistically asked him, “We don’t need to go to Twistee Treat today.  I mean, we can skip one Monday.  It’s no big deal, right?  What’s one Monday?”

Five years ago, I spontaneously suggested to our son, as we were leaving his school, that we stop by Twistee Treat on the way home. “Let’s get some ice cream and celebrate a great week and kick off a great weekend ahead.”

What child turns down ice cream, right?  The very next Friday, as we where leaving his school, he asked, “Are we getting ice cream?”  We all know how this turned out.

Every Friday, for more than a year, was Twistee Treat day.

Until one casual Monday, when I said, “Why don’t we go to Twistee Treat and celebrate the great weekend we just had and kick off the week ahead?”

So here we are, five years later. Do you think he’ll have trouble recalling ice cream with his Dad?  I mean, for as long as he lives?

Midlife Traditions

Midlife traditions, Father-Son Traditions. Traditions are simply one more way to be mindful of all we have to be thankful for.  Here’s the second of seven Father Son traditions, from November 18.

“One, two, three.”

Through the years, I’ve met people who do things that capture my attention. Little things usually.  Seemingly insignificant actually.  Some are not good and others are brilliant.

This one is from Leslie (her real name).  She and her daughter had a tradition that was easy to do and could be creativity extended beyond their particular use.

Leslie would gently, and randomly, squeeze her daughter’s hand – first one time, pause, then twice, pause, then finally three times.  This meant, “I – Love – You.”

After initiating this when our son was about two years old, I started to experiment with other ways:

  • Blink once, pause, blink twice, pause, blink three times
  • With a hand resting on his knee, squeezing it the same as his hand
  • Hugging, the same process
  • Using fingers – hold up one finger, then two, then three
  • Writing a note, “1 – 2 – 3”

The beauty of these is in their simplicity and repeatability. That’s the secret to a lasting midlife tradition.