Many days our house rings with laughter. Other days it is filled with tears. Some days are crazy busy, and some are spent cozily at home. But almost every night before bed, we all gather in my daughter’s room and sing Family Song.

Some nights my husband and I have to interrupt the singing to tell someone to stop jumping off the bunk bed ladder (again). We usually have to tell someone to put away the LEGOs (again). It’s unbelieveable how often we have to make people stop glaring at each other.

You’d think we would have this figured out by now. You’d think the kids would sit down, sweetly hold hands and obediently sing the song. Usually it’s not quite that neat and tidy.

Nevertheless, we do it. Every night. When my husband is out of town traveling, we call him for Family Song. If I am sick, they all come pile (gently) into bed with me. We’ve missed maybe a handful of times over the past three years.

I love this simple tradition. My parents divorced when I was in junior high (remember, the book is fiction, and the parents in the book were made up), so we had very few (pleasant) family traditions.

This simple act is important to me. We are a family.

Every night, no matter who yelled at whom that day, no matter who cried, no matter what has happened, before bed we come together and sing as a family.

If my children remember nothing else from their childhoods, I want them to know that through all the storms of life there are some contstants. Every night the sun sets. And every night, we gather together as a family and sing praise to our God for that day.

Usually we do hymns, and it’s about time we change to one, but for the last three months or so this has been our Family Song.

The Ten Commandments Song
(I can’t seem to find a decent version of the tune online–we learned it from the Classical Conversations CDs.)

These are the words of my God. These are the words of my God.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Not make unto thee any graven image.
Not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,
Honor thy Father and Mother that thy days may be long upon the land the Lord Thy God giveth thee.

These are the words of my God. These are the words of my God.
Thou shalt not kill.
Not commit adultery.
Not steal.
Not bear false witness, against thy neighbor.
Not covet.

These are the words of my God. These are the words of my God.

~

Of course we all are familiar with the ten commandments, but I find that those basic commands have really reminded my heart of God’s standards. Am I setting God’s day apart and keeping it holy? Am I honoring God first in my heart? Am I being thankful for my blessings or coveting the lives other mothers have?

What simple family traditions do you have?