Childhood Traditions That Faded Away – I’ve noticed that some of the childhood traditions from when I was kid aren’t necessarily getting passed on to my own children as I had once hoped. Not that this is necessarily my fault, it’s just sometimes sad to see some childhood traditions fade away as the world seems to speed up and it’s sad to see them go and not be as celebrated as they once were.
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Childhood Traditions That Faded Away
Childhood Traditions That Faded Away – Church – As a kid, I remember having to get to church early in order to find a good seat. And during the holidays, we would always expect to have to stand during the mass if we didn’t arrive at least a half hour early. My parents took us to church every week and we saw all the familiar faces of all the other families that also went weekly. It was a community coming together to celebrate their faith. Everyone knew everyone. Now that I take my own family to church, I don’t see this anymore. There’s always a place to sit, there are only a few faces that I see from week to week (including mine), and there isn’t a big gathering at the end of mass with everyone chatting and catching up. People seem more crunched for time these days. We used to work our days around church time, and now it seems like we go if we can fit it in.
Childhood Traditions That Faded Away – Neighbors – As a kid, I knew ALL the neighbors. We knew everyone’s names and we were cared about what was going on in their lives. We looked out for them and vice versa. My parents still live in the same neighborhood and to this day, I acknowledge the neighbors and chat with them when visiting my parents. But, if you come to my neighborhood I can honestly say that I know the last names of only about three of the neighbors and I’m still stumped on the first name of my next door neighbor. We give the occasional wave and I make efforts to be friendly and neighborly, but it’s a far cry from the relationships my parents have with their neighbors.
Childhood Traditions That Faded Away – Culture – Finally, let’s talk culture. Being from an Italian family and growing up knowing some highly cultural families, I’ve seen some of the more cultural traditions fade. For example, authentic food…the traditions of cooking authentic cultural foods from scratch are slowly dying as these skills are not passed down from generation to generation. Modern conveniences of prepared foods for sale, paired with the dual income household lacking the time to cook frequently from scratch add up to a loss of authentic homemade dishes.
Another cultural loss I’ve seen trending is the decrease in bilingual homes. It might be a result of fewer 1st generation children being raised here in combination with mixed nationalities among the two parents. I am a first generation child of two Italian parents. They were learning English themselves as I was growing up yet they made an effort to teach me some Italian. Unfortunately, it’s not something I have introduced to my children. I’m not fluent and my husband is not Italian and does not speak the language. With everything that goes into raising kids, throwing in a second language that was not my primary language was more than I could stand.
I MARRIED MY CULTURAL OPPOSITE
I know it sounds silly, but I guess I always imagined that my childhood traditions would be passed on to my kids. I didn’t anticipate that life around me would change so much that my traditions would be rendered obsolete as I hit 40 years old.
I wonder what “losses” in terms of childhood traditions my children will see and experience from growing up within our family to raising their own families. Can you think of any childhood traditions that faded away?
