One of my resolutions is to “Cultivate rituals and traditions,” and we recently started a delightful new one (I’ve decided that “new tradition” is no oxymoron). It’s called “Restaurant Night,” and we do it every Saturday night. My older daughter suggested it a few months ago, and it has been a huge hit. For our most recent Restaurant Night, we were an Indian restaurant, called “Naneenah” (named by my three-year-old).

On Saturday morning, my husband and two daughters went on an outing to an Indian spice store, and picked up some interesting ingredients. That evening, they made vegetable curry, basmati rice, and some kind of flavorful string beans. We set the table properly (somewhat unusual for us). I got out a few votive candles -- candles go a long way to establishing a “restaurant” flavor. My nine-year-old made a menu and decorated a blackboard sign with the restaurant name.

When it was time to eat, my three-year-old and I stayed in character as customers for the whole evening, while my husband acted as customer/chef and the nine-year-old was waitress/customer. We even changed our clothes to dress up (including one princess costume).

There were several aspects of Restaurant Night that make it a success. First, it’s a fun and easy tradition, and traditions enrich family life tremendously. Second, the game makes it easier to enforce good manners and helpful table courtesy. Third, it gives shape to the day. We pick a theme, we pick a specialty food, we pick a few appropriate decorations. My husband likes to cook, but doesn’t have time during the week, so it’s fun for him to have a reason to pore through a lot of cookbooks, and the girls love to help in the kitchen.

Have you found any easy ways to make ordinary activities more fun for your family?

The days are long, but the years are short.