Did you get out and party on New Year’s Eve? The age-appropriate activities and shenanigans I’ve enjoyed over the years have evolved with the passing of time and I was reminiscing recently about my favorite decade for these celebrations. In my 20’s I was working my way through college by bar-tending so I mainly worked on NYE which actually wasn’t all that bad. I mean you get all the party thrills and merrymaking without the expense of venue tickets and booze cause we all ended up drinking on the owner’s dime. Also, if anyone out there has ever worked in the industry, you know exactly what kind of ‘party favors’ were doing the rounds so whether you were working or not, you had basically the same experience.
Then in my 30’s I had kids and things calmed down considerably when they were little. I never did the ‘fake’ midnight countdown but I do remember one of them asking if they could stay up, ‘please? just one time!’ to ring in the New Year. Let me tell you, sitting in your living room alone with a 6 year old, watching the ball drop on TV and then quietly proclaiming, ‘Happy New Year!’ is just as anti-climactic as it sounds…and that fact was not lost on the kid who then asked with stunning disbelief, ‘that’s it?!’ Ah, maturity, so much of it is just learning to deal with disappointment!
Once the kids got a little older, we had a few family house parties enjoying all different themes for entertainment; karaoke, game night, ‘Just Dance’ competitions all with food, festivities and incredibly crabby kids the next few days. Fun.
These days I have to remain alert (read sober) and semi-awake in the event one of the older kids makes some less-prudent choices and needs a rescue or a pick-up. Fun-er
I guess it’s just the natural next step to pass the torch. The new generation in my family can explore the vagaries of a ‘good’ time and questionable judgement. In the end, it’s just another excuse for a party and a way to cap the year with some form of ‘closure’ so important for these Millennials, Gen Zeds, whatever they are called now.
And honestly, these days I don’t feel the need to chase a night out. Every decade brought the right amount and kind of amusement but I am contently back on the couch, sipping the last of the eggnog and quietly proclaiming ‘Happy New Year’ to no one in particular when the dead and dripping Christmas tree needles, sagging Poinsettia and half-eaten boxes of holiday chocolate somehow take on a celestial glow as my first task of the New Year makes it’s presence known – loud and clear. Fun-est! (no, not really)
I am looking forward to a great new year, a grand new decade and wish you all the same wondrous potential for the future ahead.