Routines & Rituals

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about traditions in our family. Routines and rituals are probably closely related to that but happen more often. These are the daily or weekly things that happen around our house.

• Sweet, sour, service - a fun way to tell about your day either at dinner or bedtime. Banner added in "stride" after camp one year. While I think it was supposed to be "strive," to tell about your goal or what you're eager to do the next day, we now say "stride" is the thing you're looking forward to. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but it rolls of the tongue nicely.

• Dinner speeches - once a week or so, each of us gives a one-minute speech on a random topic given to us by another person at the dinner table. The impromptu speeches are great practice for public speaking and can be quite entertaining.

• Question game - Also during dinner, we pick any topic, and come up with as many questions as you can about it. No answers, just questions. Our first one ever was "Judaism," and we came up with LOTS of questions.
  
• Waiting games - passing the time with little kids in a waiting room, an exam room, or at the restaurant table can be difficult. It's so helpful to play Heads Up (an app where the one with the phone holds it up to his/her forehead while the others try to get that person to guess the word on the phone) or the Noticing Game (where the kids close their eyes, and we ask them a very specific question about the room, and they try to remember the answer by noticing their surroundings - like "What color is the wall behind you?" or "How many blades are in the ceiling fan?").

• Slips - every Sunday, we calculate the kids' earnings for the week based on how they did on their daily jobs and following our house laws for the week.

• Clean 10 - or Clean 5, or whatever item number, the requirement is for everyone to pick up 10 (or 5 or whatever). When Mom or Dad calls out "Clean 15," everyone stops what they're doing and picks up 15 items to put them in their "homes."

• Beat the Song - another cleaning routine; this one involves putting on our family playlist and tidying up one room before a song is over. This is fun and fast, and it usually ends in family dance parties.

• Fighting Step - when two kids are fighting with each other or hurt each other, they go to the bottom step of our stairway and work it out. They may not leave the step until they admit to what THEY did wrong in the situation, what they plan to do to fix it, and make & accept apologies. 

• Nose to Nose/Toes to Toes - this is now a generational ritual. My mom was a master of making us laugh with each other rather than fight, and she came up with some awesome consequences. Nose-to-Nose, Toes-to-Toes stuck. When we would fight, we would have to stand with our toes touching and our noses touching. This usually ended in giggles and smiles. Other alternatives in our house are putting both kids in one large t-shirt and having them do a task together or having the kids hold hands while doing a job. Mom also had "punishments" that included writing a letter about what we thought the consequence would be or having the bickering siblings wash windows (one inside and one outside)... we ended up mirroring each other and laughing instead of fighting.

• Picking songs in the car - everyone gets a turn to choose a song while in the car, although sometimes my kids will pick 3 minutes of silence on their "turn." We also enjoy podcasts: But Why is our favorite, but we also like trivia podcasts.

• Fontina - we have a tooth fairy who visits our house when the boys lose their teeth. She leaves glittery notes for the boys along with a few dollars. When Banner lost his 20th tooth, she left a $20 bill! She is very generous and so thoughtful! She was also the boys' "paci fairy," giving treats at the front door when they donated their used pacis to newborn babies in the hospital. 

  
• Fridge parades - No one likes "leftovers," but call it a "parade," and everyone wants to participate! Usually once a week we clear out the fridge, lining up all the uneaten food from the week so we can see what kind of "smorgasbord" we can come up with. Each person decides what they want, we reheat, and we sit up at the tall counter (instead of at the kitchen table like other nights) while watching TV. It's a different meal, a fun one for the kids, and it resets the fridge real estate! 

What are some of the routines in your household?