TheCleaners.net

Human beings seem driven to establish and keep traditions.  We do it as a nation, as a culture, as families, even as individuals.  Traditions bring a richness to our lives and an anticipation that is like fireworks throughout the annual calendar.  Learn why we do this, and how you can start new traditions in your family or among friends.

Have a Blessed Passover or Easter, and know that one of our favorite traditions is celebrating the milestones of your life by taking care of the garments you wear for them.  See you soon!

Jim Nixon
The Cleaners

This Week's Chuckle

My family eats from all of the food groups --
Fast, Frozen, Canned and Microwaved!!!

We "Can" Always Help

About this time of year, we all forget about the food drives and homeless shelters we were so aware of during the end-of-the-year holidays.  We get swept up in Spring and want to look ahead.  But people still need us - all year long.  This week, bring in three items of non-perishable food, and we'll dryclean a regular item at no charge.  We'll take the food to the foodbank at the end of the drive.
Include the first page of this email with your order. Offer Expires April 17, 2004.  Cannot be combined with other offers.

The Traditions of our Lives

As we continue to migrate away from the society where families and extended families all lived within an hour's drive of each other, the craving for traditions becomes greater.  Pick up just about any magazine with an advice column, and eventually you'll find people asking, "How can I start new traditions for my family?"  The answer is, you start them the same way they were started for YOU in your family.

Setting the Stage

In a lot of ways, a tradition is like a little stage play.  It involves a script that doesn't vary much from year to year, players, and props.  Traditions become traditions because we take special times and set them apart from all other times by using these components.  We make them unique parts of our lives, and that's what makes them so special

Try these techniques for setting the stage for your newest tradition.

• Change the lighting.  It's amazing how switching from standard every-day lighting to candle light can add emphasis to what you're doing, and make it a warm, happy memory.
• Be formal.  If you usually do things in a haphazard manner, now's the time to gather at the table and make it a special place.

• Make it meaningful.  So many of our traditions are related to food, or celebrated using special foods.  If there is meaning in the various components of the meal, explain them each time you eat the meal -- especially to little ones.  As they get older, ask THEM to explain them.  This will make them feel more grown up and make the tradition more part of their history, not just yours.
• Anticipate the celebration.  It's easy at Christmas or Hanukkah to be marking off the days to the special celebrations.  But anything can be a much-anticipated tradition if you begin to talk it up in advance, and relive it afterward in photos, videos or just memories.

• Make it a family affair.  These days, "family" encompasses a lot of people that it didn't even 40 years ago.  It's great if "real" family can be there to celebrate your traditions with you, but don't be afraid to regularly include friends, neighbors, and other people significant in the life of your family.
• Give everybody a role.  Just like in a carefully-managed stage show, everybody has something to do from the youngest to the oldest.  Give everyone a specific part of the tradition -- who carves the turkey or roast, who sings a special song, who lights the candles, who cooks a particular dish.  This will make the celebration even more special, because everyone there will know it couldn't have happened without them.
• Dress up.  What's a play without costumes?  And what's a tradition without something special to wear.  It could be your best clothes, or simply something thematic that ties in with the celebration.
• Deck the halls.  It doesn't have to be Christmas to hang up decorations.  Any celebration is worth a little stage magic.
• Encore, encore!  Repeat your special celebration whenever appropriate.  Repetition is what makes it truly a tradition -- and something you'll all look forward to each time it comes along.

From all of us to your home, a blessed Passover
or Easter -- however you traditionally celebrate it.