Family Traditions

I really like Paula Poundstone, so when I heard that she was going to be on Craig Ferguson last night, I set the DVR to record it.




Paula and Craig got to talking about family history, and she was telling him that her adopted daughter had been assigned a family tree, and told she could use Paula's, since she doesn't know her own. And after Paula told her the little bit she did know about her family, her daughter said that was pretty boring and so they made one up.


In the course of this Paula mentioned that she has some Cherokee on her mother's side and some German on her father's. She said that this had not made any difference in her life at all, although that whenever they smoke the peace pipe they always follow it with wiener schnitzel.

Which piece of nonsense made me wonder what other bi-cultural family traditions we could make up? So, I've created a new meme. The rules are:
1. Post the rules.
2. You have to choose two different heritages that you (or an ancestor) really do have. They can be nationalities, races, religions, regions, or even political parties.
3. Make up a silly tradition (or as many as you want) that reflects them.
4. Do as many as there are mixes in your family.
5. Name five people to follow; inform them in the comments section of their blogs.

My mother's father was from the South and her mother was from New England and so:
Sunday supper was New England clam chowder and sweet tea.
They attended the Southern Transcendentalist Church.
Mama has a cousin who is a famous author named Tennessee Dickinson.
One branch of the family is a group of bootlegging Quakers.
Uncle Hiram, the whaler, was famous for his call, "Thar she blows, y'all!"

My father's mother was from the South and his father's family from England, and so:
On Christmas they would have jambalaya and plum pudding.
Every afternoon Grandma served tea and hush puppies.
When things go wrong, we try to keep a stiff upper lip while swooning.

Daddy's father was from Ireland and his mother from Germany and so:
On St. Patrick's Day they had corned beef and sour kraut and decorated the house with cutout pictures of Leprechauns in Lederhosen.
They used to read Yates while listening to Mozart.
Wedding bouquets consist of Edelweiss and shamrocks.
They would kiss the Blarney Stone on Martin Luther's birthday.

My sister Colleen, a true California girl, married Shafiq, a Palestinian, and so:
At the kids' birthday parties, they played pin the tail on the camel.
On picnics they would have hot dogs and falafel.
They would break their Ramadan fast with vegie pizza.
Five times a day they faced Mecca and repeated their affirmations.

And I name:
Deja Pseu at Dilettante's Progress
Gina on Just Another Day
Autumn's Mom
Cherry at Cherry Extract
Jay at Lassiter Space