People who grew up with family traditions will likely tell you that these rituals are a part of their core identity. While they may start out small, traditions often grow into something everyone in the family looks forward to, a collection of memories everyone enjoys looking back on, and an aspect of the family that each generation can carry on.
In carrying on a tradition, new generations get the opportunity to reflect on where they came from and honor those who used to participate but have now passed on. They provide a common thread from generation to generation that can often be hard to find, especially in today’s rapidly progressing world. However, today’s advanced technology can offer great ways to preserve these traditions, and Kumbu is one of them.
What is a Family Tradition?
Family traditions can be something that is common among many families, like decorating the tree for Christmas holidays together or gathering for a barbecue every year for Independence Day.
They can also be something no one else would consider important besides your family. This could be singing a certain song before your child’s sports tournament or giving a certain gift to each child when they turn fifteen.
It can be something that is specifically established to become a tradition or something that starts out as a random fun time with the family but becomes something consistently repeated. Traditions can come in the shape of a family photo album, a sport the family shares a love for, or a meal everyone enjoys. Part of the characteristics of family traditions is that they look different for every family. The importance lies in exactly what the tradition looks like for you and your family.
How to Document Your Family Traditions
Family traditions can become a source of countless fond memories with the people you love. In order to allow this reflection and remembering, be sure to document your traditions.
- If the tradition is centered around a holiday family trip, take pictures and videos each year.
- If it involves a specific food, write down the recipe.
- If your family’s tradition arises from something that was initially a random fun time or a joke or a song, write down the story about how the tradition initially came about. Write about how it evolves over time and about specific memories from when the tradition is repeated.
- If your family tradition is an event, like a birthday party or a sports game or a family reunion, take photos and videos of all of your loved ones gathered together. TIP: if you're having a family reunion soon, check out this post ; it will help you document your family reunion without missing all the fun.
Why you Should Preserve your Family Traditions
Taking pictures and videos or writing about family happenings comes naturally to some parents. Some of them have a camera at the ready at all times. However, for some of us, documenting might not necessarily come second nature and may feel like a hassle. To help prevent that, try to remember the importance of documenting these family traditions.
First and foremost, documenting the details and context of the traditions will ensure that they are carried on to following generations. Generations after the tradition begins, if the family can look back at exactly what was done and why, it makes continuing easy and important.
Another reason is for reflection. When hard times or loss strike your family, having the memories around will help to remember times when the family was happy together. Having documentation of how your children grew over the years is irreplaceable.
Kumbu Helps your Family Traditions Last
Regardless of whether documenting comes easily to you or not, Kumbu can help you collect, organize, and share all of your family’s most precious memories.
Kumbu is a “digital souvenir box” that makes documenting and saving your family traditions easy and fun. With Kumbu, you can invite other people to collaborate and add to the memories and instantly share with the whole family.
