Our adult son was deer hunting with a friend. As the boys got to the deer blind, they got out the binoculars and guns, sat down and quietly prepared for an evening hunt. Our son reached down into his bag and pulled out a clementine (a small orange) and started to peel it. His friend asked if he could have one, so he gave him one.
Thinking he was supposed to eat the clementine (what else do you do with them), his friend began to put one slice in his mouth. Our son looked at him like he was crazy and said, “What are you doing?” His friend said, “Eating the orange?”
“No No No! That is not what they are for!” he exclaimed as he precisely put each slice up on the window seal of the deer blind.
“This is deer bait!” he said sternly!
“Deer bait? Does it work?” his friend asked. “Well…. he looked out the window, smiled and quietly stated, “I don’t know, but it’s what my Raypa (grandfather) always did when we hunted together. I really don’t know how to hunt without it. It’s just what ya do.”
Traditions passed down from family members often happen without even knowing why they started. I think putting out deer bait was something my dad did to entertain our son as a little boy… and it stuck. I bet he will do the same for his kiddos.
Another time something similar like this happened was when I was doing laundry. My mother happened to be over and she walked into the laundry room as I was cleaning out the lint from the dryer.
She looked at me funny and asked, “What are you doing?”
“Ummmm… getting the clothes out of the dryer?”
“No, I mean what are you doing with the lint from the dryer?”
“I am putting it in a bag until it is full,” I replied as I put a handful of lint in a grocery bag and hung it back up from a peg on the wall.
She asked,” Well, what do you do with the bag of lint when it is full?”
I said, “I throw it away.”
She was laughing so hard! I mean I guess it was dumb for me to fill up a bag of lint and then throw it away when it was full when I could just throw the lint away each time. I thought about that for a minute and started laughing.
“You did it the entire time I was growing up… didn’t you?”
“Yes!” Mom said chuckling, “I did, but I had a purpose for the lint and didn’t just throw it away! I kept it to make fire starters for when we went camping!” Hmmmmm…. She was right! I guess I had only remembered the lint part.
“I guess I just want to be like you, Mom!” and we laughed and laughed! We still crack up if one of us brings it up!
We often do things because we see others do them and we think that is the way you are supposed to do it. Think about how you fold towels, put silverware out, what meals you cook, or some of the family traditions you have on the weekend. We often do things because that’s all we know. Some of the things we do are ridiculous and don’t even make sense, like deer bait and dryer lint! But, you do them because “that’s just how it’s done!” :)
What are some of the family “traditions” things you do just because “That’s how you do it?” Have you ever been questioned about it? Have you ever told anyone they are doing something wrong because that’s not how you were brought up to do something? What things will you happily pass down?