I was washing the dishes (by hand) this morning and my mind wandered to my grandmother and great-aunt--the relatives I lived with in the summer. They had a very old, original porcelain double farm sink. We used a galvanized tub in the sink to wash the dishes in. My grandmother dried and I washed, but she instilled the following ritual in me and I was not to deviate: wash glasses and cups first, then utensils, then dishware, then pots and pans, which would be dried, not with a towel, but with paper towels so if there was any leftover grease on the pots it wouldn't ruin the cloth dishtowels.
I see ritual as being a little different than routine. A routine is a regular, repeated pattern of behavior, but ritual has an element of purpose to it. In the case of the dishwashing, the purpose was to make sure the dishes that touch the mouth were washed first to reduce likelihood of leaving germs from the dirty water.
Of course, in addition to these mundane household rituals there are religious rituals and rituals that mark special events, like birthdays and anniversaries.
As kind of a pre-New Year review of how you work or play around things that are important to you, I'm wondering what rituals you have?