Culture across culture, holiday traditions are something that binds us together. From something like watching football together to running a marathon as a family, many families have their traditions set in stone by now. However, if we let traditions become too close to our heart, can we lose the true meaning of a holiday?

Most families have holiday traditions, even if they don’t realize it. As time goes on, traditions can become monotonous. We arguably may just do these traditions out of habit—they don’t really mean anything to us anymore. We need to find a way to break out of those traditions to create new ones.

But how is it possible to do this? The quitting part is easy, but you may be left with the feeling that something is missing. So create a new tradition—it doesn’t have to be formal, or even intentional. Even doing something as different as a family trivia night, binge watching a movie or TV series, or randomly picking out a place close by you’ve never been before can quickly become a fun family tradition.

So what are some traditions that DCHS students look forward to? “We go down to the basement, get the Christmas boxes out, and start decorating for Christmas,” said junior Lydia Hensley. “My mom literally has a Christmas tree for every room.” Many students agreed that family traditions are important to them. “Every Thanksgiving, we go to our Grandma’s house and have a big family dinner,” said senior Brayden Smith. Sometimes simply gathering together for the holiday is the main tradition. “We really don’t have any major traditions,” said senior Zachary Appleton. “We just sit around and have family time.”

Traditions don’t totally need to be banned from holidays. Certainly, we all have some things that draw us closer to our families. But consider being unpredictable this year—suggest something that you normally wouldn’t do, like going on a family hike. If you want to help others, try  volunteering your time at a food shelter Black Friday instead of shopping. In breaking up the monotony of the holiday, you may just find a new tradition your family loves.