Pizza Friday and other traditions
My niece was talking about traditions and said she didn't have any. As it happened we were on our way into town for pizza after taking her for a haircut. Which we have done several times now. I said that was kind of a tradition, wasn't it? She was cheered by this.
And you have pizza on Fridays don't you, I said. What's that if not a tradition? She agreed and we thought of a few more. Daffodils for her mum's birthday. The same picnic spot at the park.
What exactly her definition of tradition was, that she thought she didn't have, I couldn't quite pin down. It's not exactly passed down through the ancestors that we have pizza on Fridays. Though I'm sure they would have if they could.
Because you're thinking, pizza on Friday is a habit, not a tradition. To which I would say, you come explain that difference to a dejected nine-year-old.
A lot of traditions gather around certain events, even in an irreligious family like mine. We don't attend any places of worship - I've got a feeling that was some of the subtext, even from her purportedly secular school. There's Bonfire Night, and Halloween, I said. Though both have drifted a bit from the traditional origin.
Traditions, as in, generational, are fragile. Two of my niece's grandparents are immigrants. One is part of a large and active community from her home country. They do some traditional celebrations and I talked to my niece about that. The other grandparent does not have that. Traditions, histories, names even, have been lost or destroyed.
One of our more notable family traditions is that we have Indian food for Christmas dinner. This started when I was a child. We're all vegetarian and I think after some years of trying to do damp nut roast my family collectively said, Why are we putting ourselves through this? and just started having our favourite meal. Why wouldn't we have our favourite meal?
Traditions can be whatever!