Your 3-Year-Old: Creating Family Traditions
Creating Family Traditions
Routines big and small regulate your child's day and his seasons. Their predictability fosters a deep sense of security. You probably have many daily routines already — a midmorning snack, a book and a song at bedtime. But don't overlook the big routines, otherwise known as traditions. It's great fun to pass along those from your own childhood, or to think up brand-new ones that suit your family for birthdays, holidays, and other special times.
經常性業務或例行性生活對於大人來說，是一件很boring的事，但是對於小小孩來說，卻是她穩定及安全感的來源，我也是有了小孩之後才漸漸體會這層道理。
來說說看我們家有哪些「傳統」呢？
1. 早上起床固定幫小馨綁頭髮、洗臉，讓她喝ㄋㄟㄋㄟ
2. 晚上回家後吃飯、玩樂一下、媽媽先放洗澡水，再讓她玩一下、把拔幫她穿衣服、吹頭髮、玩一下、然後上床睡覺。
Your 3-year-old now
Traditions that revolve around birthdays, holidays, and seasons help to create strong families. Think back to your own childhood. Can you remember the smell or taste of a special birthday cake your mom used to bake? Or the excitement of going to the pumpkin patch year after year?
美國雖然才200多年的建國，不過老美倒是蠻注重「傳統的」，美國家庭中大人和小孩的互動，可隨著季節、節日來變化，回想我小時候，好像在過年過節時阿嬤會殺鵝、拔鵝毛，也有拜拜...而這些隨著現代化小家庭組織，小馨絕不可能跟我有相同經歷，臺灣好像也一點一滴在流失「傳統」中！
Now's a great time to start creating those memories for your child. Traditions offer a way to stay connected. Working together to bake Grandma's special cookies,（說到grandma's cookies，我小時候外婆也會做酸梅冰，就是枝阿冰） you can share stories from your own life as well as from the generations that came before. "Grandma used to make these cookies with me when I was your age. I remember how she would let me help stir and how we'd decorate them with raisins and sprinkles." Traditions are a kind of kin-keeping that's especially important in an era when extended families are often geographically scattered.
The predictability of traditions also helps children feel secure.
只要我講我小時候的事情，小馨就特別喜歡聽，聽完後還會不定時地問我，看來她也很想瞭解媽媽小時候生活哩。
Even though your 3-year-old might not remember what happened when he was 2, over the years he will remember many aspects of these ritual celebrations. What's more, attending religious services or helping out every Thanksgiving in a soup kitchen helps children learn values that are important to you.
Your life now
Have you given any thought to how big a family you might like to have? Some families just grow in ad hoc fashion, while others are more carefully planned. Just under a third of families have three kids or more — a proportion that's been consistent for quite a while despite a lot of talk in the press lately about a supposed trend toward large families.
