Pollyanna and other great Traditions!

Ok, so actually this video cover is somewhat scary to me. A floating head in clouds...kind of creepy. However, do you see what it is? It's POLLYANNA! This was the theme song of my childhood. I guess that should actually be theme movie, but whatever!
Long story short. I just found this movie at Goodwill. It was one that I grew up with and absolutely love! I totally live by the philosophy in this movie. For those of you who don't know this movie (I can't imagine how that could be, but just in case) it is an old movie from 1960. Hayley Mills got an Academy Award for her performance as Pollyanna in this movie of small-town Americana. She is an orphan who brings sunshine into the lives of everyone she meets. Seriously, a MUST SEE MOVIE! My favorite ever! Well, I got cozy with my kids and we all watched it together. My daughter now understands where I came up with my Glad Game. We play it a little differently then Pollyanna did. I have always required my children to find something positive out of bad things that happen to them. Maybe the positive might only be that now they understand what it feels like to have someone tease them, and so now they will not do the same to others, and even more maybe because they understand that they will stand up for other kids when it is happening to them.

Watching that movie with my kids left me feeling nostalgic. My family would watch movies together. We aren't quiet movie watchers. We laugh (loudly), we cry, we really enjoy our movies. We totally discuss the movie afterwards. My Dad would ask us what was our favorite part of the movie. We would each answer that question. Dad would make sure we thought about the hidden meaning of the movie. I have discussed this with my children, especially after watching Wall-E last summer! That was a fantastic movie with lots of great "hidden meanings" that I so believe in. Boy, my kids and I talked about that movie for a good 3 hours after we saw it. For weeks afterwards my Daughter would come up to me and tell me what the "hidden secret" of the movie she just watched was. Sometimes she'd even ask me to help her figure it out. Do you see how watching movies is a tradition with my family, just as the movie Pollyanna-itself is a tradition for me? My train of thought went on to how my Dad had another game similar to the movie one. Each night at dinner we would say the best and worst thing about that day. What a great way to end a day. This is a lot of fun and something totally worth trying. It opens up a lot of discussion. Discussion over things to be proud of, things to work on, or new ways to deal with frustrating things. I totally enjoy doing this with my kids now.

The point of my post today is about traditions. These fun things that we are sharing with you are all about traditions. Traditions are not some small defined thing. Instead, they are about all of it. Traditions are things we do that are passed from one generation to the next. They are also something new that we start with our children. They are so many things. The reason traditions are so important is actually why I love our name. Roots And Wings. By doing the things I do for, and with, my children I am giving them roots. These things are to give my children fun memories, to know they are special, to know they have a huge support system to catch them when they fall (and we all fall)! Traditions will also help to give my children wings. The things I do with them will let them feel sure enough of themselves to let go of me and use their wings. These things will also give them more knowledge to lean on when they spread their wings. These wings will help them to soar to their success. Success for me is that my children live life and are happy. That they are a positive part of society that thinks of others, but also thinks of themself and how to be happy.

My family really does have so many traditions. We will never run out of great ideas, because we have a lifetime of this stuff to draw from! I am so thankful to a Mother who made us stop and look at the little things in life, by celebrating everything she could (a new job, an A, etc). She also made us all feel important because of the time she put into us. She would read for hours on end with us. She played Sorry with me more times then you can imagine, and she had to work hard to let me win. This was how she got my mind off of being the last one left at home when all the other kids got to go to school. All of her time and actions were spent giving us fantastic traditions, though she never sat down and thought about them as traditions.

My Mom and Dad instilled in us a great love of books and reading. Some may not see this as a tradition. But there are so many ways that it is. My Mom ran the Book Fair, and the Junior Great Books Program. She read to us non-stop. My Dad taught us by the example he set. He has such a passion for books. There was no library in Salt Lake that we didn't visit, and we visited them often! He walks into a library and remarks on that fantastic smell of books. Have you ever noticed it? It is a reminder of where much of my childhood was spent! We read so many chapter books out loud, as a family. The Boxcar Children were one of my favorites, as were the Chronicles of Narnia. We read the Stephen King books on Road Trips. To this day, you would be hard pressed to find my Dad without a book in his possession. Wait until you see what we do on Earth Day, coming up! It's all about the same thing, spending time together, reading.

So I'm hoping those who come to our blog can see how many things can fall into our definition of traditions, and start living a life full of traditions.

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Anjeanette chiming in here. I loved Pollyanna so much I use it for my personal blog;) One year Rebecca made a Traditions book for Christmas gifts for all the siblings. She took the things that are important to us, and wrote about them. Each tradition had pictures of the family doing whatever she wrote about. We consider so many things traditions. Afghans. Afghans are a tradition for us. Both our Grandmothers have made us Afghans as well as our mom. We all have lots of handmade afghans in our homes. Afghans are a tradition? I know you think we are crazy now. But a tradition is anything that is done on a regular basis. You know that when a new baby is born, they will get a handmade Afghan. When St. Patrick's Day is here you expect green food. At Christmas time you plan on days of baking. For getting good grades you eat on the red plate of honor. A tradition is something put there to make you feel special. A tradition is something for your kids to look forward to with magic in their eyes. A tradition is a way to celebrate life to it's fullest and make a big deal out of something other people may think is mundane. A tradition is to fill our children's hearts and minds with wonderful memories that will last a lifetime. We hope that by filling our children's lives with traditions, as our parents did for us, we are making their lives magic.

While we do make a lot of crafts, that is not all this blog is about. This blog is also about making traditions out of everything.

Pollyanna is a fun movie to watch and a great family tradition for us. Thanks Rebecca for this post.