Celebrating the Holidays (and the Every Day!) With New Traditions

On a blustery mid-February weekend day, I made a surprise announcement to my kids, asking them to gather up the handmade Valentines they’d created for their grandparents and put on their hats and snow boots. My 4-year-old’s eyes danced with hopeful excitement: “Mommy, is there going to be a candy hunt?!”

Everyone celebrates Valentine’s Day by looking for chocolates in a snow-filled yard, right?

But to my older kids, ages 6 and 8, this also seemed like a totally plausible suggestion. They’d searched for Halloween candy hidden in the same lawn while decked out in costumes. The New Year’s Eve quest for sweets even included written clues tucked in tree branches and stuffed inside the mailbox.

I kept my crew in semi-suspense on the car ride, though my kids knew their hunches were spot on. When we pulled into the driveway at our not-so-surprise destination, two overly-bundled grandparents greeted us. Somewhere between their hats, scarves and face masks, I glimpsed their smiling eyes, which mirrored my kids’ eagerness to begin yet another backyard holiday hunt.

And now here we are — an entire year into life with social distancing, masks, and the other now-normal realities of weathering a pandemic. While not every family — or possibly any other family — has incorporated a gleeful, outdoor search for goodies into their holiday celebrations this year, we’ve all had to pivot from our typical traditions. And though the promise of vaccines for all, herd immunity, and normalcy hover on the horizon, a complete return to pre-pandemic life isn’t here just yet.

Families all across the country are sharing their tales of traditions old and new this past year through PBS’ American Portrait storytelling project. Their stories paint inspiring pictures that we can all use to shape our celebrations in year two of this pandemic.

Here are some tips for continued COVID-friendly family traditions and celebrations:

Reach for family recipes. Quarantining has meant quite a bit — okay, a lot — of extra time at home for many families. My attempts to bake challah, a braided bread eaten weekly on the Jewish sabbath, didn’t always rise to the occasion — but my kids enjoyed the “flour showers” we created on Friday afternoons in our kitchen this year. Corey M., from Falls Church, Va., took up cooking and documenting his family’s Gullah recipes — featuring red rice, shrimp and okra — from the Lowcountry in Georgia that have been passed on for more than 150 years. Need a new holiday meal idea? Dig out those old family recipes.

Keep connecting, creatively. Doreen in East Kingston, N.H. creates her own Jeopardy! game each year to play with family after eating Thanksgiving dinner. This year, she mailed her family members packages with prizes and carried on the tradition, but through a video call. This hybrid habit — seeing others in person but also on screens — is likely not going anywhere for a while. And it’s a great way to bring family and friends who don’t live nearby together for celebrations. Though we’re distanced, we don’t have to be distant.

Savor the small things. Sometimes it’s the simplest traditions with our families that we hold onto the most. Pizza Fridays have become a popular tradition with many families. Parker J. in Chapel Hill, N.C. looks forward to Sunday family dinners (even through a video call!) during which everyone shares their mountains and valleys of the week — their highest and lowest points. My kids have clung hard to family movie nights on Friday evenings. I‘d be lying if I said taking a collective end-of-week sigh and snuggling up with my kids on Friday nights wasn’t also the highlight of many of my weeks.

Explore the outdoors. Kimala R., from Anchorage, Alaska, remembers going camping with her mom when things weren’t wonderful in the world and they wanted an escape. So she’s doing the same with her kids — and even meeting friends on hiking trails for socially-distanced adventures. Not sure how your kids will handle a night under the stars? Natalie M. from Grand Blanc, Mich., held a practice campout in a tent in her living room before trying the real deal outdoors. As the temperatures start to rise, so has the frequency of my family’s weekend picnics. My kids think their sandwiches taste better eaten on a blanket surrounded by green grass and blue skies. I agree.

Stay silly. Creating new traditions? Don’t forget the fun. Amy B., from Nashville, Tenn., keeps a funny family tradition going by adding “oink oink” sounds into the happy birthday song when singing to family members. John M. in Seattle, started a new tradition this year of letting his daughters paint his toenails whenever they go on vacation. Allana F. in Charlotte, N.C., carries on a tradition of smashing cake into the birthday person’s face after singing happy birthday. Okay, that might not be fun for all involved — but families across the country are onboard with one thing: making traditions laugh-worthy.

Whatever traditions you’re turning to as you navigate pandemic life — keep it up! These might just be the things your kids — and you — remember most about these topsy-turvy times. Yes, I’ll remember the school closures, cancelled plans and chaos of this past year — but I’ll also never forget the shrieks of pure joy over finding packs of gummies in the bushes.

And don't forget to submit your own story to American Portrait with your family traditions!