Traditions, customs, idiosyncrasies, habits, whatever we call them, we all have them.

Everything from putting on the right sock first in the morning, to reading Luke 2 before opening Christmas presents. 

From staying inside with the lights off and watching movies for Halloween, to counting 100 brush strokes as you brush your hair before bed. We all have them.

Mark Twain said, “Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.”

Twain was right on the money. It takes time to coax habits – both bad and good – into or out of existence.

The same holds true with customs and traditions. 

Our family just celebrated my 37th birthday, and my daughter Alana’s eighth, and as I participated I reflected back on some of the traditions I’d had as a kid for birthdays.

I’ve two siblings, an older sister and a younger brother, and we would get to choose a dessert to have on our birthday, and we would also get a special dinner out with mom and step-dad at a restaurant of our choice.

I, and this will be no surprise to those who really know me, always chose King’s Table for my dinner out. 

An all-you-can-eat buffet, it satisfied my desire to eat as much as I could of only the foods I wanted and not get in trouble. There were no rules during the special birthday dinner and I think my parents were glad I liked mashed potatoes and gravy as much as cinnamon rolls because at least I got some nutrition.

My sister, whose birthday was in December, would choose fancy restaurants, and never went to the same place. I was always jealous of her choice, and would vow every year to choose someplace fancy for my birthday next year, but inevitably I would forget and end up back at the buffet.

I want to make lasting traditions for my family; whether it would be taking my kids out to dinner on their birthdays or going to the same park for camping every year.

What I’m not sure of is: what constitutes a great tradition?

I want to have such a strong habit made with my kids that they want to keep coming back and do it all over again. 

What are some of your family or individual traditions?

What do you do for holidays? What do you do for family get-togethers? What do you do that is so much fun you want to repeat the experience year after year?

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A little sports news ... the Oakland Raiders traded two draft picks – a 2012 first-round pick and a 2013 second-round pick that could become a first round pick – for quarterback Carson Palmer.

I’ve got two problems with this trade. One, Palmer was refusing to play for the Bengals because they haven’t had more than two winning seasons in the last 20 years, even though he was under contract until 2014.

Bengals owner Mike Brown had been refusing to trade him so he wouldn’t be rewarded for being a holdout.

What does that teach us? Hey, if you have an agreement with someone but don’t like what’s going on, don’t worry about what your word is worth, just break an agreement. I wasn’t a huge Palmer fan before, but I hate the guy now.

Two, the Raiders paid way too much for a quarterback. Two, first-round draft picks? Brown must be tickled pink with the wool he pulled over the Raiders’ eyes. The Raiders claim that they want to win the Super Bowl and Palmer can help. Well, we’ll see won’t we?