Family Traditions

Ever wonder what truly makes your family unique? What family traditions did you grow up with that you continue to carry on?

One tradition for our family has always been to make tamales. This has typically been a once a year Christmas tradition. Growing up, my parents always made tamales right before Christmas so they were fresh on Christmas Day where we would have a large Mexican Feast most of the day or so it seemed! The smell of the pork meat in the steamer and spicy peppers being prepped will forever be a warm happy Christmas memory. It always makes me wonder if all Mexicans associate the smell of pork as part of just being Mexican. 

As my siblings and I got older, we were recruited to clean the cornhusks and spread the masa. If you looked in our window at Christmas, it would be like staring into a snow globe. The picture would be the same year after year. The kitchen table covered in a vinyl tablecloth and masa plopped in the middle of the table. My mom alongside the kids would spread the masa on the husks. My dad would place a precise amount of meat on the masa and roll them into a picture perfect tamale. Mom would count out three dozen and help dad place them in the steamer. They set the timers and mom kept tally marks of each dozen. We would have to taste a tamale out of every batch! 

As my own family has grown into this magnificent village, Christmas time has become a bit hectic with plays, school and parties. We made the decision this year to not make tamales in December. We did however help my parents carry on the tradition. We will keep to making tamales only once a year but will now make them at Spring Break. This really means we get fresh tamales twice a year instead of once a year. So in a sense, I feel like we will carry on the tradition but at a different time of the year. I look forward to the day when my own children help us spread the masa! 

There are other traditions I have kept true that I hope my own children one day appreciate and carry on to my grandchildren. Each person receives a new personalized Christmas ornament to his or her personal likes of the year. The kids look forward to these ornaments every year. My mom did this when we were growing up and promised us the ornaments when we got older. She has decided to keep them for now but that is okay because each year my own kids place my childhood ornaments on her tree. I wonder if I will one day hoard my kid’s ornaments too!?! 

So it doesn't matter how simple your family traditions are because they are unique to your family. If you don't have any special traditions, it is never too late to start. It will be worth the memories to you and your children.