New Years Eve Day Traditions at our House

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When I was a kid, I remember waiting for the day my parents would let me stay up until midnight on New Years Eve. I don’t know if I thought something magical happened at midnight or if it was just the excitement of it all, but I could not wait to find out! My parents were not party people and many times my Dad even worked on New Years Eve, as he was a manager and computer programmer for a large oil company. He was either at work or on call should anything wonky happen when the clocks rolled over to the new year. I remember when Y2K rolled around and he spent most of the New Years Day and night at work just to make sure the “world didn’t come to an end” when the clocks rolled over to the new century. He and his team had spent months working on it and doing scenarios so they were prepared for anything they could foresee happening.Thankfully it wasn’t the end of the world and the computers kept on ticking as the clock struck midnight. {image} When we had kids I was so excited for the day they would get to stay up and “party” at midnight.

As our oldest approached an age we thought he would enjoy it, we let him try to stay up. He had fun waiting, but was sadly disappointed when there weren’t fireworks and huge party at our house as the clock rolled over. Then, he woke up at his normal 7am time and was a cranky mess the rest of the day! I was so sad for him that it wasn’t what he expected and the next day he was pretty miserable due to his lack of sleep that night. So, we have not allowed him to stay up on New Years since. I know…I’m a horrible mother. And truthfully, in the 9 years of our marriage (at that point), my husband had only been home on New Years Eve probably 3 times. He worked most New Years Eve’s, so I was home alone. Not that I minded all that much, but it really wasn’t worth me fighting the kiddos that late at night and then dealing with tired and cranky kids the next day by myself.

So…a few years ago, I decided even though my kids might be old enough to try the midnight thing again, I wanted more of a party for them to enjoy without the after effects of staying up waaaay past their bedtime. So I again, I went to the knowledge base of the internet – Pinterest. I found some very clever ideas for celebrating and ringing in the New Year at NOON instead of midnight!!! The idea was perfect!! We could make the day filled with fun and partying, but still get them in bed at a reasonable hour. So, I got to work. I gathered supplies, made snacks and invited some cousins over to join in the fun!

First, I raided the dollar store, the dollar spot at Target and the party favor bins at Wal-Mart. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money, but wanted some fun items for the kids as we “celebrated” the new year. Then I bought a pack of brown paper sacks to fill with the items I bought. Each one was marked with the hours of our party, leading up to noon when we would open the last one. Here’s what I included in each sack:

10:00 am – Little noise maker (flute) and fruit snacks, which was perfect because that’s about our normal snack time in the mornings!

11:00 am – Another noise maker (what was I thinking?), but the kids had a blast with them! I think there might have been a little toy in there too, but I didn’t get pictures, so I can’t really remember.

NOON – New Years Hats, Pop-its (that might not have been my best idea with 6 kids popping them at once) and opened some Sparkling Grape Juice for the kids to have a special treat to “toast” the New Year.

After we had opened all our bags and partied to bring in the Noon-Year, we had pigs-in-a-blanket for lunch. Of course, these were a huge hit with the kids and me, because they are so easy to make. After lunch it was time to finish off our celebration with a fun, make-your-own dessert.

What kid doesn’t like dessert? I gave them each a paper plate and a waffle cone. I then put out some chocolate and vanilla icing and sprinkles and let the kids make their own “Christmas Trees”. First, they covered their cones with their choice of icing and then “decorated” their trees with sprinkles. And then they were free to eat away! They had so much fun creating them and even got a little carried away with it, but they all enjoyed them and had fun. And that’s the point – right?!

Last year, we didn’t do this, but I fully plan to have a wonderfully full-blown party this year!!! I’m still “brainstorming” all my ideas, but I think we will do a 3- hour party (10am – 1pm) at least and maybe do bags every 30 minutes instead of just every hour. I might also do it with a larger group of kids to make it more fun, but we’ll just play that part by ear and see how it goes.

So what’s your favorite New Year’s Tradition?

Check out my lovely friend and fellow IAHE blogger, Hillary over at Our Homeschool Studio, sharing about her own Family Holiday Memories and  Traditions.

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