Tag Archives: celebrations

Anniversary Celebrations in Adoptive Families

My last blog talked about rituals and celebrations for adoptive families. Of course, adoptive families celebrate the normal family occasions such as birthdays. While these absolutely should be celebrated, sometimes an adoptive child may also feel sadness on their birthday, as they realize that it is the anniversary not only of their birth, but of that their birthparents decided not to parent them. (I have written a blog that talks about helping a child deal with mixed feelings surrounding birthdays.) Many adoptive parents also celebrate “Gotcha Day” on the anniversary of the day they received the child. Some parents try … Continue reading →

Ways to Celebrate Thanksgiving with Your Spouse

How do you normally celebrate Thanksgiving? Do you stuff yourself on the traditional turkey fare? Once stuffed, do you then collapse in front of the TV to half nap, half watch football? Do you rush between houses to see all branches of the family tree? Or does your whole family gather in one place and play games, like perhaps a friendly match of touch football? Last year Wayne and I went to Denver, where our families both live, and caught up with everyone. That was a big deal for us, because most years we’re pretty low key. Either we get … Continue reading →

Marry Now, Celebrate Later, Save Money and Your Marriage?

Why do we make such a big deal about weddings? More specifically, why do we spend so much on weddings? The Average Price of a Wedding I stumbled across a site called Cost of Wedding that says the average price of a wedding in the United States is between $14,000 and $43,000. (You can also enter your zip code on this site to find out what the average cost of a wedding is in your immediate area.) This figure accounted for everything except: the engagement ring, bridal consultant or wedding planner (if any), bridal shower invitations, gifts from guests, honeymoon, … Continue reading →

Celebrations and Parties for No Good Reason!

Sure, we have holidays, and birthdays, and graduations–but do we really have enough celebrations to keep life peppy and purposeful? One of the grand things about family life is that we can come up with our own celebrations; we can have those typical holiday parties and such, but we can also have parties for no obvious reason whatsoever… My eldest daughter has appropriated one particular date of the year as “her” day. Several years ago, when she was still in middle school, she had a particularly pleasant, happy and lucky day and ever since then, she celebrates that date in … Continue reading →

Celebrating Our Proposalversary

For Wayne and I today is more than just Valentine’s Day. It’s also our Proposalversary! We’re celebrating Proposalversary number 14. Hard to believe it was Valentine’s Day 1994 when Wayne (finally!) proposed. Seems like just yesterday! Or maybe I want the memory to linger since it was such a long time coming. (If you’re curious about the “proposal story,” such as it is, see: Shopping for Engagement Rings: Go With or Be Surprised?) Neither of us was expecting to be together today. Wayne’s been busy with work so he was even more at a disadvantage than me. I at least … Continue reading →

Christmas Cards, Letters, or Pictures: Which Represents You as a Couple?

Our first Christmas as a married couple, which would have been December 1995, I started the tradition of sending out Christmas cards for both Wayne and I. Back then I picked cards with funny or clever pictures, wrote a short, quick note to the recipients, and mailed them. Christmas 1999 marked the first time I attempted a Christmas letter, which I’d previously never had much respect for. Most of the ones we received painted an entirely too rosy picture of friends and family living entirely too perfect lives. We knew the letters meant well but were stretching things a bit. … Continue reading →

Who Does Christmas at Your House?

Yesterday I wrote about how I’m married to a Scrooge and that for any Christmas cheer to be spread in our house it’s up to me to spread it. Wayne doesn’t string lights, wrap garland (or presents), or mess with picking trees. His one and only contribution is getting our fiber optic tree out of the attic. After that I don’t bother asking for any more Christmas assistance because I know all I’ll get is a big bah humbug. I sort of envy those women whose husbands get into the spirit without too much griping. The ones who take the … Continue reading →

Family Traditions: Celebrations for Holidays and Everyday – Elizabeth Berg

You may know Elizabeth Berg as the author of Talk Before Sleep, Joy School, Open House, or one of her other novels. She’s also the author of a non-fiction book called Family Traditions: Celebrations for Holidays and Everyday. It’s one of my favorite books on traditions, and one I often give as a wedding present. Family Traditions has many inspiring ideas for busy families. The book speaks to any family, even non-traditional ones. The introduction has a sentence that I love, “The most important thing is that we understand the need for celebration: It lifts days away from other days, … Continue reading →

Happy Howl-oween!

Normally I look forward to Halloween. It’s one of my two most favorite holidays. I’m too old for trick or treating anymore, but it doesn’t stop me from dressing up –myself as well as Wayne and Murphy. (No way would Kitty let me even tie an orange or black bow around his neck! Tabby might though…) Except, this year I wasn’t able to go all out like I usually do with decorations and stuff because we had the house on the market. Still, I did get treats to pass out and even though Wayne won’t be with us, I have … Continue reading →

Is it Wise to Have Everything at Once?

When I say “everything” I’m not talking about material things, I’m talking about celebratory events. Birthdays, anniversaries, that sort of thing. Case in Point September is a big month for Wayne and I. • Wayne’s birthday is September 7th • My birthday is September 14th • Our wedding anniversary is September 16th • Murphy’s birthday (well, the day we got him) is September 23rd How’d You Manage That? Let me tell you, it was a complete fluke. All except for our anniversary. If we’d thought more about it, we might have picked a different day. As it was, we held … Continue reading →