The story goes something like this:

A newly married couple were celebrating Christmas Day. As they prepared their small holiday feast, the new wife was preparing the ham for cooking. Just before she put it in the oven, she cut off about a chunk from the end.

The new husband asked why she was doing this. She said she did not know, her mom had always done it that way before. So she called her mom to ask why. Her mom did not know why, and said that is the way that her mom had always done it. So the new bride called her grandmother to ask why she cut off the end of the ham.

Her grandmother replied, "Well, honey, we had a very small pot, and only a very small piece of ham would fit. Don't you have a bigger pot?"

Creating new traditions/changing old ones

Do you have any holiday traditions? Are you tired of the same old traditions? Did you know you can create your own traditions? Did you know that you can change old traditions to suit you better?

If you like some parts of an old tradition, keep those parts and change what you want to change.

If you want to create a new tradition, create a new tradition.

Talk with your family members and make it a joint project.

Jeff Herring

Jeff is a marriage and family therapist, singles and relationship coach, mentor coach, speaker, syndicated relationship columnist and author.

Jeff has a full time private practice in Tallahassee in which he specializes in couples, teen and parent counseling. He also is a relationship coach specializing in working with couples and singles. Some of his professional activities include:

==> Internationally syndicated relationship columnist through Knight-Ridder/Tribune Media Services, with a weekly readership of over 10 million worldwide

==> Sought after speaker for organizations, associations, churches, and corporations

==>Twice weekly appearances on The Steve and Sara Show on Magic 107.1

==> Author of "Keep the Changes: 52 Tools for Successful Living" a collection of his best columns, as well as several e-books including "How to Create a Passionate and Loving Relationship.........Forever," "How to Beat the BOZOs: Dealing with difficult people without becoming one," and "Tame Your Teen: THE survival guide for parenting your teenager.

==> Founder and CEO of TheArticleGuy.com

==> Founder and CEO of SecretsofGreatRelationships.com

==> Founder and CEO of ParentingYourTeeanger.com

==> Founder and CEO of ToolsforSuccessfulLiving.com

==> President of BuildingYourIdealPractice.com

==> President of ConsciousDatingTallahassee.com