On our way home from a birthday party my daughter was at, the conversation in the car turned to watermelon. I was telling my daughter that I had chopped up a whole watermelon and that we also had ice cream in the freezer.  Her initial reaction was “watermelon on ice cream - eewww” and I tried to convince her of its goodness.

In trying to convince her I remember Sundays growing up. Each Sunday morning my Dad would get up and make waffles from scratch. Every Sunday. He did it so my Mom could sleep in a few extra minutes before getting up for church. Sometimes the waffles were tinted pink, blue, or green. Sometimes he mashed  up bananas and sometimes they were just plain. But, we always had them. It became a tradition.

After breakfast we would go to church. In the summers after church we would have another tradition. My Mom would chop up whatever fresh fruit we had or open a jar of her homemade canned peaches and we would have fruit and ice cream for lunch. That was the entire meal.  My Dad always said it was too hot for anything else, but we know now, it was just an excuse to get us all hooked on his favorite indulgence.

I have such clear memories of these traditions and love Sundays for it. As a matter of fact, I plan on making waffles for my kids this morning.

Were there any family traditions from your childhood that always bring back good memories? Have you started any with your own kids?