Real Mom in a Digital World: Family Traditions (Posted 2008)

This weekend we camped at Knoebels Grove....just like we did last year...and the year before...and the 4 years before that. We camp in my parents 36 foot RV...very cramped quarters for a family of 5 and two grandparents (oh, and a Boston Terrier). Several relatives from New York come down and participate in what has now become a family tradition. It is terrific. We always get the same sites on the same weekend in June every year...it is really routine. Of course, every year there is SOMETHING that you can't account for ahead of time...Van tires need replaced, someone loses their glasses on the Skloosh water ride, someone (ME) ends up at the ER with eyes swollen shut, someone else forgets to put their cell phone in a baggie before heading onto the Skloosh (this same person lost their cell phone a few years ago...hmmmmm)...the list is endless. Yet, every year on the second week of June, there we are...Knoebels Grove, riding rides and eating Cesaeri's delicious pizza.

And new traditions spring up every year...for instance, a few years ago someone suggested a family Bumper Car ride. So we did. It was the most fun we have ever had on an amusement park ride and, hence, it became a tradition..trying to ram another family member as hard and aggressively as you can. We always do the park on Saturday and the water slides/pool on Sunday. Campfire on Sunday night regardless of the humidity. Hoagies (subs for you New Yorkers) on Thursday upon arrival in PA. All traditions. This year we added Sunday night pizza around the campfire to our tradition. Someone didn't feel like cooking...suggested it...Done.

So, even after being in cramped quarters on a day when the heat index reaches 112 you still gather around the campfire because the under 10 crowd gathered wood. It's just what you do...it's what you EXPECT. It's nice. And every year something unexpected happens that makes all the work worthwhile. This year: #1 made a new friend. My NY cousin's wife brought her "little (little being 43 years old) brother with her. And he brought his 8 year old son, M. I am thrilled to announce that M and J (the dad) will be returning next year to hopefully become part of our annual Knoebels outing.

I have memories from my childhood of wonderful family traditions...especially going to my uncles cabin where all the family would settle in for the weekend and also camping with my grandparents, again same time/same place every year. These are lifelong memories we are making. And you know what? For the kids the memories will be of Skloosh soakings, bumper car rides, gathering wood for the campfire and new friends from Brooklyn...they will never remember arguments over RV positions or someone losing their glasses on the Skloosh. They will remember, hopefully, this time where their family members gathered around to spend a weekend acting like kids.

For those of you who enjoy commenting: What are YOUR family traditions? If you don't have any, it isn't too late to start. Here are a few pictures of our fun!

Me, the thugs and my mental patient...(that is #1 in the bottom corner with her hands in the air...what a daredevil!)