When I think of New Year’s Eve, family time isn’t what comes to mind. Champagne, parties, firecrackers, staying up past midnight, fancy clothes—none of those say kid-friendly to me. Let’s face it; New Year’s Eve is more grownup couple time than family time. But for a lot of parents, it is a night home with the kids. Many years we couldn’t afford to go out, even if we could have found a babysitter. And a lot of years we’ve had sick children that we didn’t want to leave with a sitter. Besides, who wants to stay up until midnight on purpose when the baby is going to up at 1:00 anyway?
So how to make the grownup New Year’s into a family night? The champagne is easily transformed into sparkling cider, Italian soda, or ginger ale. You can buy plastic goblets for the kids. You can let them decorate the outsides with stickers, glitter, and ribbons. We set out kid friendly party food, cheese, crackers, fruit and veggies. This year I’ll think we’ll do fondue.
As for midnight, we often cheat a little on that. My husband and I are both from the east coast, two hours ahead of our Mountain Time. Some years we’ve celebrated at 10:00 here, knowing that it’s midnight there. Small children don’t know the difference. We’ve joked about setting the clocks ahead, but we’ve never done it.
The kid’s love to make noise. I buy a big sheet of bubble wrap (the kind with the big bubbles) and let everyone stomp on it. It lasts for longer than you think, and sounds like firecrackers.
It’s a good night for looking at family movies, going through the photo albums, and sharing family stories. And if you pretend that nine or ten o’clock is midnight—don’t worry, I won’t tell.
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