Committed: The Ties that Bond
with Angella Dykstra
I'm a mom of three, a professional accountant, and an amateur photographer and writer. I am not a marriage expert. But my husband and I take "Til death do us part" seriously, and here I'll be sharing how we keep our marriage strong while we both do that insane work-life juggle.
Check out my Work It, Mom! profile and my blog, Dutch Blitz.
New Year’s Eve is considered to be one of the biggest date nights of the year. You get dressed up in your finest duds and make plans to attend The Party Of All Parties. If you are single, you want to make sure you manoeuvre yourself into a position to (hopefully) be kissed by That Hot Guy when the clock strikes midnight. If you are married, you already have That Hot Guy to kiss at any time, but it’s good to know you won’t be standing alone at the stroke of twelve.
If you have kids, New Year’s Eve gets even more pricey due to the fact that babysitters try to build their College fund in the course of one evening’s gig. Then there are tickets, or dinner, or whatever else you deem necessary to ring in the New Year.
Here is where I give you a true confession: the last time I stayed up to ring in the New Year was 1999/2000. I was newly engaged and in a house full of our closest friends. The whole Y2K extravaganza was going on, where it was predicted that all things techological would bring the world to a halt. And it…did not happen.
Even before we had kids, we did not stay up for that Magical Midnight Hour. Truth be told, I am an Early Bird. My body wakes up early (usually 6 am, before the kids even) and thus I need to get to bed at a reasonable hour or I completely fall apart. My husband is more of a Night Owl than I am, but he likes his sleep. Staying up until midnight would cut into his slumber time, so he is not into it either.
Most years we put the kids to bed, watch a movie and, well, you know, and then tell each other that we will “see you next year”.
This year we are having friends over, but it is a family-friendly affair. There will be food, there will be little ones underfoot, there will be a lot of memories made, but it will likely all be done hours before midnight. Which is good, as I would hate for a party to make me too tired to, well, you know.
How about you? Where do you spend New Year’s Eve?
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Noah and I haven’t spent a New Year’s together yet. The last two years we’ve been under the same roof, but I was either an angry pregnant lady or a moody mom with a newborn, so I went to bed early. This year? I think we’ll probably watch a movie, maybe watch the countdown, then go to bed. No partying here. It’s not really a big deal for us.
Mrs. Wilson | December 30th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
we plan to do the same thing we do every year…watch a movie as a family with lots of candy and popcorn, let vi stay up a LITTLE later than normal, then kiss my husband at midnight, say a prayer for the new year, and go to sleep.
rebecca | December 30th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
I’ve done the bar scene and the hot date night and all that and well, I’m kind of over it. I didn’t want to be totally alone on NYE so I invited friends over for a make-your-own-pizza party and board games. I’m pretty sure everyone will be gone before midnight and I will be asleep.
sizzle | December 30th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Jordan and I haven’t gone out for New Years for atleast 6 or 7 years. We usually stay home, eat, and make sure the first thing we do in the new year is “it”.
This year though, we are going out. We are stopping by two seperate get togethers and for the first time in years, we’ll be out past midnight!
Jen | December 30th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
It actually varies with us from year to year. Last year we went to my brothers for a family friendly party. The year before we went to a really nice dress up party at a really nice hotel in downtown Indy.
This year we are working. Unfortunately for us, but fortunately for those who need them, hospitals never close.
Have a great party/gathering. Kids love ringing in the New Year I think even more than we do. The fireworks and all the noise makers are right up their alley.
Kimber | December 30th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Just yesterday I was listening to my seven year old explain to his 4 year old sister than “You get to stay up all night on New Year’s Eve”. The only problem with that is they may be the only ones awake by then.
We’ll be staying home, we used to go to house parties but when we don’t do that we get all kinds of “appetizer foods”. You know the ones you shouldn’t eat, mostly breaded and fried. Then we hang out and eat and either watch movies or play games/cards.
Happy New Year to all.
Katbur | December 30th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
I’m right there with ya! Hubby and I will most likely be home before 10 and, well, you know, before 11 and sound asleep well before midnight
Michelle | December 30th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
We’ve started a tradition of attending minor league hockey game on New Year’s Eve. Fun, a family event, and we’re home before the drunks hit the road.
Daisy | December 30th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
I used to be all about dressing up and going out. Last year I had a five month old and we snuggled on the couch. This year I was gone for a week before Christmas on vacation without my babe. So while my husband really wants to get dressed up, our baby sitters are not available, and I just want to be with my babe. She’ll be sleeping but it doesn’t matter, just being in the same house is worth it to me this year!
Tiffany | December 30th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
We’ve been doing the same thing every year since we moved to Miami. We go down to gather at our friends condo in South Beach and then walk around Ocean Drive - which is closed off to traffic. Tons of families, single people, every type of person goes down there and walks around listening to the loud music of the restaurants. Then everyone goes onto the beach at midnight, we pop open a bottle of champagne and the city shoots off fireworks. However, this year, we found out that most of our friends, including the one with the condo there, are all doing other things. Luckily, he told me and my husband that he woudl wait for us at his condo and give us the keys so that we could still use it as a home base and do our normal New Year’s routine.
Oceans Mom | December 31st, 2008 at 11:45 am
New Year’s is a little tricky for me because the 1st is my birthday. So after years of no one wanting to do anything on the actual day I started throwing a New Year’s Eve Birthday Party open house. We started this tradition for many reasons but the big one is that neither the Mister and I want to leave the house on New Year’s Eve because we don’t think it is that big of a deal. Plus who wants to deal with the cold, drunks and taxis?
This is the 6th year for our party and it has become a real family friendly tradition and our friends start asking us in October or November if we are still having it. This year should also be interesting because it is our first year as parents so hopefully our 8 1/2 month old daughter won’t mind having our tiny apartment full of people (she loves company though so we suspect she will do great).
melanie | December 31st, 2008 at 1:19 pm
We usually get together with some close friends and their kids (mostly teens/young adults now) and play games, eat, and laugh. This year, however, we’ll be staying home and having a quiet night watching movies or maybe playing a game or two. And It’s probably just going to be me and my hubby ..definitely different!
Lifelines | December 31st, 2008 at 8:03 pm