Let’s Hear it for Building Traditions

 

When I was a child we would bake cookies with my mom.  Sometimes we would bake for the holidays, or sometimes just to give us something to do.  We would be so excited as my mom pulled out the baking utensils and ingredients. My sibling and I would start talking about our specific creations.  What would make our cookies different from any other cookie.  Mom was always so organized.   We loved helping out.  She baked from scratch.  I did not know what a treat that was.  She would call us together and each sibling would be assigned a task.  No task was too big or small.  Mom would have a multitude of “baking extras” around so we could be creative.   Sprinkles of different colors and textures, butterscotch or chocolate ships, vanilla, oatmeal, different color raisins, different kinds of nuts, marsh mellows, chopped up fruit, candies you can put in the cookies – all kinds of things.  In the end we could decorate the cookies according to our tastes.  We talked about our creations and if there was anything on our minds, we talked about it then.  Sometimes, the cookies came out funny looking but they always tasted good.  In the end I did not know what was really happening.  We were building traditions.  My brothers and sisters remember these times fondly.  It had a profound effect on us.  It still gives all of us joy to think of those times.  So, next time you have a few minutes do something and start a tradition.  It will keep you together and last forever.