Definitions of Tradition

Tradition, as defined by Urban Dictionary:  "The reason for doing things which have no apparent reason."


Son: "Dad, why are you peeing on the cat?"

Dad: "Because it is Tradition {Gosh Darnit}. Every July 23rd we pee on a cat. My Father peed on a cat, his father peed on a cat and you're also gonna pee on the cat."


I'm really hoping our Valentines tradition (officially a tradition now that we've done it twice, right?) means more than that to our kids.


I'm hoping they'll see that a first date led to an engagement which lead to a temple marriage which lead to a family.  In that order.


I'm hoping they'll see that family is pretty much the most important thing we have, and a day to celebrate love pretty much has to include everybody.


I'm hoping they'll anticipate the known activities, discussing what they're going to order and trash-talking their bowling scores weeks in advance.


I'm hoping that post-mission, they'll correlate the yearly reminder of Mom & Dad's first date with the church's encouragement to date.


Regardless of the future implications, this year we had FUN!  Looking back at last year's inaugural photos, I can see several apparent differences.  The Old Spaghetti Factory was less packed since we went the day before the actual holiday.  Dylan bowled this year.  Adam really bowled this year - fingers in the holes and everything.  I did not have the killer score I somehow posted last year.

This year's scores: 
Dylan:  72
Alex:    66
Adam:  77
Mom:   73
Dad:    110


And there were plenty of similarities.  Adam ordered the spinach ravioli again this year, and he downed it in minutes.  And then he ate half of Dylan's mac-and-cheese.  Dylan's favorite food was still the ice cream.  The boys were mostly well behaved at both the restaurant and the bowling alley.  We still all like each other.  :)

A final perspective on tradition:

"The abstract, commonly referenced concept of beating up underdeveloped-farm-boy football teams for a number of years, then winning only one National Championship game after those other teams figured out how to play football.

"Most often associated with the University of Michigan.

"Our football program has a rich history founded on tradition."