Family traditions

Have you ever wondered why you do certain things a certain way?  Most families have certain traditions that get passed down from generation to generation. I remember a school friend of mine whose mother was regretful that she had managed to have three out of her four children christened, but somehow never got around to having her fourth child christened. I could never understand why it was such a big deal for them as they were not the religious type and never really went to church. I asked her mom about it once and she just said; “because it's something that must be done”.

In my family we had a tradition of opening our presents at midnight on Christmas Eve; this was mainly because we had to rush in the morning to get to church. My boyfriend however did not agree with this idea, as I sadly discovered on Christmas Eve when he told me I had to go sleep and was only allowed to open my gifts in the morning.

Another friend of mine once spent a couple of months in America, during that time she was invited to a traditional thanks giving dinner. She watched the hostess prepare the turkey with great interest. As the lady of the house was about to put the turkey into the oven, she sliced off two thick chunks of meat from either side of the turkey. When my friend asked her why she did that, she said “I don’t know, it’s the way my mom does it.”

That evening the hostess asked her mom why she always sliced off the sides of the turkey before putting it into the oven. Her mom replied “because when I was young the turkey was bigger and we had to cut it so that it would fit into the oven dish”.

I realized that it’s okay to question something if you don’t understand it, rather than doing things blindly just because that’s how it’s always been done. This is what my generation is doing now anyway. Media and Hollywood keep telling us to question the norm, think outside the box. With movies that show an underachiever questioning authority and winning the hearts of the audience. People are becoming more and more vocal about what they want and sharing their feelings through social media and blogs. People are no longer willing to become doormats, they are starting to stand up for themselves and don’t get me wrong I like it, but I do see the side effects. Lack of respect seems to be the norm for young teens these days. I wonder if there is a way to question authority without being disrespectful of it. If there is, our teenagers sure haven’t learnt that yet.