We're going to be at home this NYE with our 2.5-year old and our 7-month old. It's got me thinking about starting some new traditions, since we won't be going to our usual party.
So, what are your New Years traditions?
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Just having a nice brunch New Years. We usually take a selfie too
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We do appetizers with our neighbors, and are usually home to put the kid to bed by 8:00. Then we watch a movie before going to sleep before midnight!
On New Years Day, we always take a day trip to the Columbia River Gorge ... we see waterfalls, beautiful views, and start the year on a good note.
When I was little, I remember my parents inviting neighbors over to party - us kids drank sparkling cider and stayed up til midnight with our noisemakers. It was such a good memory.
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New Year's Day is a huge deal in my family because we're Japanese. So we have a huge brunch/breakfast that includes ozoni soup (which is the main event), eggs Benedict (my own family's addition), plus sashimi, sake, and an entire day of games and prizes.
I've had ozoni every New Year's Day of my entire life! I love it. It's a seafood (dashi) broth with seaweed, mochi, and hokkigai (arctic clams). But that's the way my family makes it - I think it's one of those dishes that varies by region and household. It's one of my favorite holidays!
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NYE has always been whatever floats the boat. My NY Day traditions center around food- good luck Soul Food foods. But since getting married it's hit or miss if I eat those. My dad is bringing over some of his black eyed peas, collard greens and neck bones this year!
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For the past 5ish years we've gone over to our friend's house. Pre-kids we went out to dinner and then back to their place. Post kids we have had dinner there and then put the kids go to bed by 8 or 9. Then drinks and games! I love champagne and games, so it's a great night for me! We spend the night so we don't have to deal with crazy drivers.
This year my husband's brother and his wife and going to drive down to join us. And the friend's mother volunteered to watch all three kids so we can go out to dinner! Still need to find a restaurant. But I'm pumped!
When I lived at home with my mom, we always went to a fantastic restaurant that did a New years Day brunch in your pajamas. That restaurant closed, but I think I found another one that we're going to try to go to this year.
I also spent one NYE with a Finnish friend of mine who encouraged us to do the Finnish tradition of running around your house 3 times barefoot at midnight for good luck. Cold but fun.
@newlypregnantlady: I was in Kyoto for NYE many years agp and it was a wonderful experience! We went out to karaoke in the evening, to one of the temples that night and for the stroke of midnight, then we had a big traditional breakfast with my boyfrien's host family the next morning. The ozoni was amazing, though the moshi was a bit hard to get through. But it was a fantastic New Years. I'd love to tae my husband and son back some time
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Our only tradition for our family (both my family growing up and now my husband and I as a family) is to write down wishes for the new year (or write down things you want to let go of) on small slips of paper and then burn them - releasing the wish to the universe. We also do this in summer on the summer solstice.
You can burn your slip of "wish paper" however you like (fireplace, bonfire, etc.) but a few years ago I was speaking to a Russian friend at work and her family has the same tradition except that on new years they burn the slip of wish-paper over a glass of champagne and then drink the ashes in the champagne in order to effectuate the wish. I really like that and you really don't end up with ashes in your drink - you just use a very small piece of paper. So, that's what we do now to burn our wishes.
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Our friends host a "Noon Year's Eve" party every year for all the kids. Everyone brings kid-friendly food and then just before noon, we gather all the kids in their foyer and do a countdown and balloon drop at 12:00 p.m. It's so much fun that if they ever stop doing it, we'll have to pick it up. I love that it gives kiddos a way to celebrate without being up until midnight. I haven't really figured out anything fun to do at night with them, though.
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@Mrs. Blue: That is such a fantastic idea! I wanna do that .... I can't seem to stay up til midnight anyway!
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We hike and get hot cocoa. We might sled or have a campfire.
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@Mrs. Blue: fun!!
Our problem is many still have to work on NYE but we always have off the 1st. We used to host a brunch party open house but this year we skipped (just had our third baby). I may still invite some friends over last minute though
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@youboots: that's great! I think we'll start a family NY selfie this year...
@littlejoy: a beautiful view and fresh air, what a perfect way to start the year!
@newlypregnantlady and @Mrs. Lemon-Lime: we love Japanese and Soul Foods, maybe we'll do NYE one and NYD another. growing up my family made up "wasabi wars" where my brother would make sushi, and people would compete to see who could handle the most wasabi.
@JenGirl: So fun! And I'd never heard of that Finnish tradition, that's great!
@yoursilverlining: that's such a beautiful and thoughtful tradition. I love the traditions of reflection
@Mrs. Blue: I'm scared to keep my kids up that late, so that noon party sounds like a perfect compromise!
@Greentea: four of my favorite things! We're putting a firepit in our backyard this spring, so I think we'll incorporate a fire into our next NYE
@T.H.O.U.: babies definitely make party-hosting harder! We hosted Christmas this year (our youngest is 7 months) and there definitely a lot of "What was I thinking?" momentsThank you everyone, I love all these responses!
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