Professional Organizing in Madison, Wisconsin

Family traditions are an important part of our everyday life.  They can link us to our past and give us hope for our future, as well as give us a strong bond with those we share them with.  As Letitia Suk of Focus on the Family notes, "traditions define the identity of a family".  But traditions can also help us simplify our lives - by setting expectations and perfecting skill sets.  They can save us money, time and sanity.  Now that's what I call a winner - building up your family relationships and being productive at the same time! 

Simple traditions such as making the same thing for meals each week are easy to implement.  I know many people who have pizza for dinner on Fridays or sub sandwiches for lunch on Sundays.  In our family, we tend to make breakfast traditions - one is we have homemade muffins on Fridays.  Since we have been doing that for over a year, we have really perfected that skill set.  We always have the right ingredients on hand, we know what tools we need and we know the recipe by heart!  I think we could get batch of muffins to the oven in less than 5 minutes if we were in a hurry.  Meal traditions can also decrease planning time as well as decrease the stress of the dreaded question "What's for dinner?"

Bigger traditions can make life simpler as well, such as hosting a BBQ every Labor Day.  By doing this, friends and family can make plans well in advance.  Kids may anticipate playing certain games or everyone may look forward to a specific menu item.  Again, your planning time decreases and your enjoyment of the event and the people there increases.

Here is a tradition our family looks forward to on birthdays:

Of course, it's important to keep traditions in perspective and stay flexible.  Just as families grow and change, traditions grow and change as well.

What are some of your family traditions?  How do they help you simply your life while building up your relationships?  I'd love to hear your comments.

I am excited to have my first give away.  (That implies there will be more, right?)  The cool people at Rubbermaid http://www.rubbermaid.com/ sent a few products to me to try: a four pack sandwich size TakeAlongs and a Blue Ice Fun Shape in the shape of a base ball. I pack four lunches a day and I have used both of these products every day since I got them!  I like the blue ice fun shape because it is thin and it fits well in the kid's lunch boxes and of course, it is more exciting than the standard blue ice packs.  I like the TakeAlongs because you can reuse them over and over and yet, you are not out a lot of money if they get lost or thrown away. (Would my children do that?)

TakeAlongs and the base ball Fun Blue Ice Shape.  See how thin it is?

So here's the deal: leave a comment and I will enter you in the drawing for a pack of 4 TakeAlongs & a Blue Ice Fun Shape.  Please leave in the comment your name and how to contact you, and if you would prefer a boy or a girl theme for your Blue Ice Fun Shape. 

Bonus entries:  An extra entry goes into the hat if you tell me that you:  1) would like my monthly news letter or 2) follow me on Twitter (see sidebar) or 3) join my fan page on Face book (http://www.facebook.com/PrimoSolutions).

Good luck to everyone! 

Small Print:

US addresses only please. This contest will end on Monday 10/5/09at 11:59 pm CST.   Only comments containing all of the requested information will be eligible for entry. The winner must contact me to confirm they wish to receive the prize within two days of my notifying them they've won.