Family traditions, do you have them?

I felt like for years and years I worried about creating these magical family traditions with my kids and year after year I was disappointed with myself for not following through, or making them extravagant enough, and then one day I just stopped caring because it was making me tired.

I put away all thoughts of comparison and not feeling like I was doing enough and made it a point to remember that creating family traditions is not about what you do, but who you do it with. Connection, communion, love.

Slowly over the years, as my four small children have grown, I have introduced little bits and pieces to holidays - and ordinary days - to create special traditions for our family, and while they aren’t grandiose or full of lots of detail, they are ours.

Currently, our favorite way to end the week is with a Friday family movie night. It’s a small gesture that my kids love, not because my kids don’t get to watch movies, they watch plenty, but that my husband and I usually aren’t present for them. Typically I use movies as a way to get the kids to settle before bed and so I can get the last finishing home chores completed, but on Fridays, we all relax.

The kids move the coffee table and make a giant bed on the floor with quilts and pillows and I whip up a big batch of stove-top popcorn. Sometimes I will surprise them with a fun little treat to go with it (last week was nerd gummies, man are those things addicting!) and we choose either a new film that just came out or an old classic (they loved the Sandlot).

Here are some of our favorites (my kids are ages 3-9 for reference):

1. Moana 1 & 2

2. The Wild Robot

3. Luca

4. Encanto

5. The Sandlot

6. Charlotte’s Web

7. Mary Poppins

8. The Little Giants

9. Elemental

10. Inside Out 1 & 2

11. Wynn Dixie

12. Hook

13. The Parent Trap

14. Matilda (the musical is cute too)

15. Jumanji

16. Beethoven

17. Homeward Bound

18. Tarzan (live version)

19. Beauty & the Beast (live version)

20. Home Alone (during the holidays)

It’s been really fun to introduce classics that my husband and I watched as children and to also see new animated movies that I typically wouldn’t sit down to watch.

As mentioned above, homemade popcorn is always in order! I love buying organic kernels from the store as I find they are more cost effective and you eliminate all the extra ingredients. Stove-top popcorn can be tricky as it tends to burn easily but if you follow this technique, I can guarantee you will have perfectly popped popcorn every single time.

Perfectly Popped Stove-top Popcorn

• 1/4 c. avocado oil (any high-heat oil will do)

• 1/3 c. popcorn kernels

• butter (about 4 tbsp or so)

• salt

To Make:

Place a deep skillet or sauce pan on your stove top. Add in your oil and 3-4 “test kernels”. Turn the heat up to medium and wait for the test kernels to pop. Once the kernels start to pop, quickly add in 1/3 c. of kernels, cover with a lid and remove from heat. Count to 30 while shaking the pan every so often. This will ensure all the kernels are at the same temperature when placed back on the heat and will produce even cooking (eliminating burned popcorn and uncooked kernels).

After 30 seconds, place the pan back on the heat and replace the cover but so that it’s slightly slanted on the pot to allow a little steam to escape. Allow the popcorn to finish popping while shaking the pan every so often.

When finished, remove from heat and pour popcorn into a large bowl. In the same hot skillet, add butter (as much or as little as you desire) and salt. When the butter/salt combination is melted, pour over popcorn and toss with spatula.

Enjoy homemade popcorn!!

I hope you all have a beautiful weekend with your families.

xo,

Angelina

Share

Leave a comment