These processes are not as clearly identified or ritualized as entrances or blessings. Nurturing involves providing for a person's growth and development. Food is of central importance and has been the hub around which most nurturing rituals have developed. Holiday meals where extended family members gather are very significant food rituals, but even daily meals have their own ritual character - the seating arrangement at the table, the direction in which food is passed, whether napkins are used, and so on. However, nurturing the evolving spirit and self in a young person is not so commonly ritualized by a family, even though it is as essential as eating.
Families can expand their rituals to mark the key events in each member's life.
Pictures, music, story telling, and celebrations can highlight accomplishments, successes, learning, and discoveries. Events thus marked as nurturing are woven into the fabric of the family's life and identity. Family processes which protect are even more difficult to identify and ritualize. Sleep rituals are one common way of helping family members feel safe and secure. Reading bedtime stories, cuddling, snacks before bedtime, brushing teeth, arranging sleep companions, and turning on night lights all reassure and comfort family members prior to sleep.