Winter Family Rituals and Traditions

As we near the end of autumn and welcome another Seattle winter of long nights and wet weather, I find myself needing a few reminders of how much I actually love this time of year. There are so many things that our family looks forward to in the coming months – rain boots for puddle jumping, WildLights at the zoo, time with family and friends, board game nights, the hope of a snow day, and an excuse to have hot chocolate three times per day!

This is also when I pull out one of my favorite books called The Intentional Family by William Doherty. I peruse it every year as I prepare for the busy holiday season, and as our family celebrates the close of one year and the start of a new year. We were introduced to this book through a conversation at an SFOM Year One gathering, when we had recently welcomed home our twins. As new parents, we suddenly realized that we had both the privilege and responsibility of defining what ‘family’ meant to us. The variety of ideas for rituals and traditions that this book offers helped us start simple, with things we could do even in the chaos of having young multiples. And now, years later, it continues to be a source of ideas throughout the year for how we can create positive rituals of celebration and connection within our family and our community.

I hope that your families will find many opportunities to intentionally connect in the coming months, including within the SFOM community. From the winter holiday party (with on-site childcare!), to Year One gatherings, to the annual winter pool party, to meetups in fun indoor spaces, to cozy in-home play dates… there are so many wonderful ways to meet other families of multiples, because of (not just in spite of) our special Seattle winters!