not me, nor anyone in my family, but i love the spirit of ‘pocket pancaking’
all families are unique, with their own quirks, traditions, and ways of communicating – and the holiday season often serves as the perfect showcase for these interconnected elements. so when tonight show host, jimmy fallon asked his viewers to tweet funny examples using hashtag #myfamilyisweird, the responses did not disappoint. one person shared their relatives’ tradition of hiding leftover pancakes in each other’s pockets, while another posted a photo of a ‘hideous hand-me-down elf ornament their mother keeps trying to throw away each year, but hilariously ends up back on the tree. customs we cultivate with our kin can do more than just make us laugh, studies have long shown that establishing family routines and rituals positively benefits our health, relationships and well-being.
does your family have any unusual traditions? in my family we had a super creepy automotron mange-y looking furry toy cat that kept coming back. we bought it for a visiting grandie and just thought it was an ordinary stuffed animal, but what we soon discovered was that it would move or make noise at random times. people who received this gift ending up reporting that they kept in their garage or basement or closet, because it creeped them out so much. even with all that, they housed if for a full year, just for the opportunity to ‘gift it’ to someone else in family at the next christmas gathering. people went to great lengths to disguise it when wrapping, so the recipient would let down their guard and open it. we gifted it back and forth to each other for many years, until one year it just disappeared….
“remember as far as anyone knows we’re a nice, normal family.”
i recently saw it with one daughter and two grandies
based on a youtube character created by comedians who were bored at a wedding
with low expectations, just wanting to be entertained
i was not prepared for this poignant, sweet, sad, funny, and heartwarming story
a documentary with a perfect blend of stop-action and live-action film
you may recognize some of the humans who appear on the screen
not an action film but fully a reaction film
give it time, it’s slow, it’s quiet, it’s incredibly touching, and will enchant all ages
it’s seeing the world through marcel’s tiny eyes,
as he deals with joy, love, loss, fear, grief, courage, and a renewal of life
reminding us of the importance of family, friendship, support, and connections of all kinds.
–
This poem, The Trees, by Phillip Larkin, was read at a pivotal point in the film and is so fitting:
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The signs of newness are also sewn into what has died away. Everything changes all the time. I love being alive, especially in the late spring, when the flowers return again. But you can’t enjoy the daffodil without honoring what has died so it can regrow. If you want to really grow, you must be able to know and allow for what change really looks like and feels like.