I am curious and taking a poll and also needing some ideas...What family New Years Eve and New Years Day traditions do you celebrate and teach your children?
As many of you have already heard me explain, we have moved a lot and In lieu of just another night time party...what are your favorite family friendly customs?
Thank you in advance :)
We have young children that can not stay up until midnight so we celebrate NOON Years Eve. We have a count down at noon and do a fun celebration.
We used to let ours try to stay up till midnite. Now they CAN and we CANT, haha.
I always made/make black eyed peas.
Other than that, it's just another day. I try to stay away from resolution making since I generally fail at the ones I've tried.
I'm supposed to quit smoking again this time around. Hubby is on me about it already..... I'm sure the wknd will be tense :)
I created a sheet of paper that says "My New Year's Resolutions" and every year on New Year's Eve Day they write some things that they want to improve on in their life. They are now 9 and 7 years old, but when they couldn't write, I would write it for them. Then I hang them up in their room for a reminder. Eventually they come down and I put them in their keepsake albums to remember in the future. In the past, we have also bought black foam sheets from a craft store and decorated them wtih silver pen and the year. We get Sparkling Cider and put them in plastic champayne glasses and celebrate at 10pm when the ball drops in New York. We bang pots and pans outside too!
a neighborhood block party ... with fire pits, basketball, scootering, food, friends, and fun.... but it's going to be FREEZING this year... we usually stay until 11, not sure we'll be able to make it that long this year
We have some family traditions we always do: we roast pork and sausage and saurkraut in the oven until midnight. In the first hour of the new year, everyone must take at least a little bite to bring good luck and prosperity for the coming year! Usually we keep it and reheat it the next day for a big New Year's day lunch. My family has always done this since I was a little girl.
My husband, son and I always watch 'The Wizard of Oz' on New Year's Eve. I have snacks and chips and finger food and my husband and I drink champagne cocktails and my son has sparkling grape juice. At midnight we watch the countdown on TV and my son goes out on the porch and bangs on a pot with a wooden spoon and shouts Happy New Year.
Staying home and watching a movie is actually a great way to spend the evening with kids. You can invite some neighbors and friends over and just make it a casual pot-luck. We don't want to go out to a bar or a big fancy party anymore anyway, lol.
We always do fondue (cheese, meat & chocolate) for our meal, and then we have a family wii tournament. Before we had the wii, we did a board game night and a movie. Over dinner we chat about the past year, talk about the highs & lows. And then look forward to the new year. We make plans for trips we might want to take, things we want to do, people we want to see etc. We also talk about what we would like to work on as individuals and as a family.
On New Years we make a special dinner than the kids sit down and cut out confetti and make hats out of newspaper. It is SO fun and it takes like an hour. It doesn't matter what age they are, I have ages 2, 4 and 10 and they all participate! Then we wait for the ball to drop and throw the confetti with our hats on and give each other hugs. Now, my kids typically do not make it to midnight so we watch the ball on the computer.
Good luck and happy New Years!
When our children were younger (before they got old enough to date lol) we used to go to dinner and a movie. we took turns letting each child pick the place for dinner. some pretty not so great dinners lol. one at taco bell another at burger king. It was kids choice those years lol. one very memorable one at denny's. since there were 4 kids we had 4 years of fast food type dinners and then 2 that me and hubby chose and then back to the rounds of kids places lol. and then we would go to a family movie. we saw toy story one year. prince of egypt one year cast away one year and a bunch of others. when we got home we would turn on the tv and or play board games till midnight. the ball drop in new york then midnight in chicago where we were and then off to bed. new years day was always jsut family stuff, games, picking up the house and if i was really energetic taking down the tree and organizing the holiday stuff.
well we are breaking our tradition this year, which until now was in bed by 9. this year we're getting together with two families and their children, will make a bonfire and roast sausages (hehehehe). got party hats, whistles, and will let kids stay up as much as they can (until tantrums start). then we will take it from there.
:)
Our family goes over to our friend's kid friendly party. Adults hang out in one part of the house conversing...and kids play Wii and stuff in the basement.
You should check your local area, though...Our city has a great party at their convention center with games, bouncy houses, family amusements, then fireworks...and it is free.
We make a nice dinner and hang out, play a game or watch tv....My son stays up til midnight then bangs pots and pans outside for good luck. He also put coins on the window sill for prosperity in the new year.
I also wash my face with money every Jan 1st--FIRST thing.
