"Family rituals are routines and traditions that honor what is very important to the family (Rothenbuhler, 1998). Rituals include family traditions, such as the specific ways we celebrate holidays, birthdays, vacations, weddings, and graduations, or even our weekly family dinners and everyday bedtime rituals for children. Rituals are valuable when family members perceive them as current and meaningful (Braithwaite, 2022)."
"A few years ago, my friend Kris was concerned that his family was losing their tradition of decorating the family Christmas tree together. Kris purchased their live tree the day after Thanksgiving so they could decorate their tree over the weekend, as they always did. Now that the children were young adults, they were busy and involved with their friends and activities."
Family rituals are routines and traditions that honor core family values and include holidays, birthdays, vacations, weddings, graduations, weekly dinners, and children's bedtime routines. Rituals hold value when family members perceive them as current and meaningful. Research finds that rituals must remain relevant and change as needed to succeed. Life transitions such as children reaching adulthood and older members losing abilities can reduce participation and meaning. Regularly taking inventory of rituals, engaging family members in brainstorming, and reassessing rituals enables adaptation or replacement to meet present and future family needs.
Read at Psychology Today
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