We Never Actually Planned Them
I don’t think we ever sat down as a family and said, “Okay, these are going to be our family traditions.” They just happened. Somewhere along the way, coffee dates with Daddydoodledoo became a thing. Staycations became something we looked forward to. Birthday celebrations turned into little family productions. Sis somehow became our unofficial travel OOTD coordinator, and taking approximately 847 photos during every family outing became completely normal. We were just living our life. We didn’t realize we were creating traditions.
Now that Ykaie is getting ready for college at UP Diliman and Twinkle is growing up right behind her, I’ve started looking at those little habits differently. I wonder which ones they’ll remember. Maybe it won’t be the expensive vacations or the big celebrations. Maybe they’ll remember that Mommy always wanted one more family picture, that Daddy always knew where to find good coffee, that we somehow always ended up eating together after a long day, or that whenever we had a free weekend, someone would eventually say, “Tara, saan tayo?”
And honestly, I think those are the things that make a family feel like a family.
Related (where the above photo is from) : Gameboard Fun at All aBoard XP by Gaming Library
Our Coffee Dates Became a Tradition
If you’ve been following Mommy Peach for a while, you probably know that I love a good coffee date. Some are with Daddydoodledoo, some happen during family outings, and sometimes we discover a new café because somebody saw it online and said, “Let’s try that.” Other times, we go somewhere for a completely different reason and somehow end up looking for coffee afterward.
It’s funny because we never decided that coffee would become part of our family’s routine. It just did. Now, when Daddydoodoo and I have a little free time, a coffee date feels almost automatic. We sit down, order something, talk about the girls, work, where we want to go next, and sometimes absolutely nothing important. Those little conversations have become some of my favorite moments.
Staycations Became Our Little Escape
Another tradition we didn’t intentionally create is our love for staycations. I think it started simply because sometimes you just need to get out of the house. We don’t always have the time—or the budget—for a long vacation, but a night or two somewhere comfortable is doable. And somehow, the minute we check into a hotel, everyone seems to relax. The bags go down, someone wants to swim, someone wants to order food, someone starts taking pictures, and suddenly we’re on vacation.
Even if we’re only a short drive from home.
Over the years, these little escapes have become something we all look forward to. And now that the girls are getting older, I think I appreciate them even more.
We Take Way Too Many Family Photos
Okay, this one is definitely my fault. I take a lot of pictures. A LOT. There are times when everyone is already saying, “Mommy, enough!” and I’m still saying, “One more!”
But here’s the thing: I’m glad I did. When I scroll through old photos now, I don’t just see pictures. I see little versions of my girls. I see hairstyles that have long disappeared, old clothes, birthdays, vacations, and family members who were younger. Sometimes I’ll come across a completely ordinary photo that I had almost forgotten about, and suddenly I’m transported back to that exact day.
That’s why I keep taking them. One day, these ordinary pictures will be the things we treasure most.
Birthday Celebrations Are a Big Deal in Our Family
We also have a tendency to make birthdays into an entire season, especially with Twinkle. Her birthday celebrations have somehow evolved into more than just one day. There are meals, friends, family, photos, and usually some kind of request from the birthday girl that we happily try to make happen.
I think birthdays have become one of those traditions that tell our children, “We celebrate you.” Not because everything has to be extravagant, but because your life matters to us. As the girls grow older, I hope that’s what they remember—not how much the celebration cost, but how loved they felt.
Somehow, Family Meals Became Part of Our Routine
We’re a food-loving family, so it shouldn’t surprise me that food became one of our traditions too. Sometimes it’s a proper family dinner, sometimes it’s takeout because nobody feels like cooking, sometimes it’s a restaurant we’ve been wanting to try, and sometimes it’s simply leftovers that somehow taste even better the next day.
There’s something special about everyone sitting down and eating together. The conversation doesn’t always last long. Sometimes someone is rushing somewhere, sometimes everyone’s on their phone, and sometimes we’re arguing over who gets the last piece of something. That’s real family life. It isn’t perfect, but we’re together, and I think that’s what matters.
Sis Has Become Part of Our Travel Traditions Too
Every family has that one person who somehow takes charge of something. In our family, that’s Sis when it comes to travel OOTDs. If we’re going somewhere, there’s a good chance she’s already thinking about what everyone should wear. Matching? Coordinated? Same color palette? Let’s just say that sometimes I find out about the OOTD plan when the rest of us are already committed. 😂
But I’ve come to love it. Because years from now, those matching outfits will probably make us laugh. We’ll look at the photos and say, “Why did we all wear that?” And I’ll probably be grateful that we did.
“Tara, Saan Tayo?” Is Practically a Family Motto
I think one of our simplest traditions is also one of my favorites. We like going somewhere. It doesn’t have to be far or expensive. Sometimes it’s a café, sometimes it’s lunch, sometimes it’s a market, sometimes it’s a staycation. Sometimes we don’t even know where we’re going until we’re already in the car.
Someone will eventually say, “Tara, saan tayo?” And that’s usually how another family adventure begins.
I love that about us. We’re curious, we like trying things, and we like discovering places. Even when the destination isn’t particularly exciting, the fact that we’re together makes it worth the trip.
Our Traditions Have Changed as the Girls Have Grown
This is probably the part that makes me a little emotional because family traditions aren’t really permanent. They change as your family changes.
When the girls were little, our traditions looked different. There were birthday parties with kiddie games, trips centered around playgrounds and activities, snacks packed into every bag, and nap schedules. Now Ykaie is preparing for college. She’s making more of her own decisions, has her own interests and schedule, and is slowly becoming more independent from us. Twinkle is still younger, but she’s changing too. She’s becoming more independent, more opinionated, and more confident.
That’s why I’m learning to appreciate the traditions we have right now. Because they won’t always look like this.
Some Traditions Are Just Little Things
I think we sometimes imagine family traditions as big events—Christmas traditions, annual vacations, birthday rituals, or special holiday meals. But traditions can be much smaller than that.
It can be your family always ordering the same dessert, the way you celebrate birthdays, taking a family picture whenever you travel, getting coffee after a long day, watching a certain movie together, having a favorite restaurant, going on a weekend drive, or calling someone every Sunday.
If you keep doing something together and it becomes part of your family’s story, I’d say that’s a tradition.
The Things I Thought Were Ordinary Are Starting to Feel Special
Motherhood is funny that way. When you’re in the middle of it, you’re often just trying to get through the day. You’re thinking about dinner, homework, laundry, work, errands, who’s picking up whom, and what’s happening tomorrow. You don’t always stop to appreciate what’s happening while it’s happening.
Then suddenly your child is preparing for college, and you look back and realize: Oh. We were making memories this whole time.
The staycations, coffee dates, birthday celebrations, family meals, matching outfits, random road trips, and hundreds of photos were all little pieces of our family’s story.
I think one of the greatest gifts we can give our children isn’t necessarily a perfect childhood. It’s a childhood that feels like home —a childhood filled with little things they can recognize as theirs.
Maybe they’ll remember that Mommy always wanted family photos. Maybe they’ll remember Daddy taking them out for coffee. Maybe they’ll remember that birthdays were always celebrated, or that whenever we had a free weekend, we tried to do something together. Maybe they’ll remember our favorite restaurants or our silly inside jokes.
I don’t know exactly what they’ll carry with them, and that’s okay. I just hope they carry the feeling that they belonged. That they were loved. That home wasn’t necessarily a place. It was us.
We didn’t create most of our family traditions intentionally. They grew out of everyday life. A coffee date became a routine. A staycation became an annual treat. Family photos became an obsession. Birthdays became celebrations. Travel became something we loved doing together. And little by little, those things became part of who we are as a family.
Now that Ykaie is about to begin her college journey at UP Diliman, I’m realizing just how quickly these years have passed. There will probably be new traditions ahead. Some will change, some will disappear, and some will belong to a completely new season of our family.
And that’s okay.
Because maybe that’s what family traditions are supposed to do. They’re not meant to stay exactly the same forever. They’re meant to grow with us.
So for now, I’ll keep saying yes to the coffee dates. I’ll keep booking the occasional staycation. I’ll keep asking for one more family photo. I’ll keep celebrating birthdays. I’ll keep saying “Tara, saan tayo?” And I’ll keep enjoying these little things that, at the moment, feel completely ordinary.
Because someday, I have a feeling I’ll look back and realize they were never ordinary at all.
They were our family traditions.
