3.20.2013

starting traditions

As Brent and I step day by day further into this parenting thing, we realize the importance of intentionality, especially the older Blythe gets. Obviously "older" is a pretty relative term, as she'll be one this week…so it's not like we really know jack squat.

However, we've already established a Christmas tradition with one another as far as presents are concerned. Neither of us like the idea of no limit on Christmas; that everything be centered around presents. So since the beginning of our marriage we adopted the four gift tradition, which I've seen variations of. Ours is:
Something you WANT
Something you NEED
Something to PLAY WITH
Something to READ

We followed those guidelines for Blythe this year, which kept it simple. And I liked that. It helped us focus on other things--- like Christ. Obviously as she gets older I want to implement other "traditions" that will help steer her towards the manger, and the birth of our Savior. 

So the other day when I was looking at some blogs I follow, I immediately knew I wanted to start THIS TRADITION. This wonderful, busy woman has SIX kids. She and her husband decided last year that Easter would be the day they would reveal to each child the verse they had decided to pray over them for the year. So she created these super cute and simple jars, with a few jelly beans in the bottom, some "grass", and an egg perched on top. Inside the egg is the verse chosen with each specific child in mind. She wrote HERE examples of verses they chose and why.
source theandersoncrewblog

I plan on doing this for Blythe this year [minus the jelly beans :)], and hopefully in the years to come.
If you were looking for a simple, meaningful tradition to start with your family, I thought this one was worth sharing. 

3 comments:

*carrie* said...

That's really neat, Kelsey.

We got in the groove a couple years ago of doing our egg hunt on Saturday morning to help us keep the Sunday focus on the real meaning of Easter.

BChambers said...

Like!

emily anderson said...

ahhh, thanks for sharing! so glad it could work for your family too :)