As we get ready to say goodbye to the year 2017 and welcome in the new year 2018, I wanted to share with all of you some of my family’s New Year’s Eve traditions. Some of our traditions started when I was a child and other’s were added in over the years.
When my brother and I were little we used to spend almost all of the New Year’s Eves with my great aunt and great uncle. They were like grandparents to us and we spent a lot of time with them over the years. They would have us down overnight and we would enjoy pizza that night while watching the ball drop on Time’s Square. Of course, we always watched it on TV, like millions of other families around the world.
My mother always gave my brother and I a new outfit on New Year’s Eve and we would wear that new outfit on our first day back-to-school in the new year. Yes, we would get new clothes for Christmas too, but we always got a new shirt and pair of jeans as a New Year’s Eve gift too.
Once I got married and had our daughter we started our own NY Eve traditions. Every time it rolled around we would cook up some shrimp, crab legs and other seafood treats. We always played board games that night and then eventually watch the ball drop on TV. Now that our daughter is out of the house & raising her own family, hubby and I still cook up our seafood dinner, play board games and now we watch a movie together, since we have no interest in watching the ball drop on Time’s Square.
Every couple of years we’ll go out after having our seafood dinner and go downtown to watch the fireworks. Now that we’re getting older, we’re not so keen on doing that because it’s usually around 15 or 20 degrees that night. Yikes!
For New Year’s Day we always cook up a big family dinner together. We make the traditional pork roast, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, homemade dinner rolls, salads, etc. My daughter now makes and brings dessert to our family dinner.
My question today for all of you is this…Do you have any New Year’s Eve and/or New Year’s Day family traditions? If so, what are they? How long have you been doing them?
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We watch the fireworks on TV at midnight after having dinner with friends. We have celebrated by having the same group of friends over for dinner over at least the last 20 years.
NYE is my mother’s birthday too so we always had a little party and then just celebrated into the new year. She usually comes to visit for a couple of weeks around the holidays.
My friend always has an open house on New Year’s day. She has lots of different foods but always includes Hoppin John.
I am trying to think if we did much of anything a kids andI do not remember that we did. I do know our Dad always wanted black eyed peas he says they brought luck. As I got older, we of course had a night on the town. Now we are older, we usually stay in.Tonight is a stay in night for sure as it is -40 with wind chills and the roads are too slick .
When my Sister and I were kids the biggest thing we did was go out at midnight and beat pots and Pans to ring in the new Year.. Back then the entire block was outside beating pots and pans. lol~ looking back it was really a fun time. Then when we got older we would go to my Aunt and Uncles and have a New years eve Brunch. My Aunt made all kinds of sandwiches and snacks and salads. Then we would watch on tv the Ball drop and we still ran outside and beat pots and pans! Yes it was a Tradition that my children and Grandchildren still do. Now a days me and Hubby just watch a movie . We hear a lot of fireworks going off at midnight…
We stay up to watch the ball go down in Times Square and have done that since I was a child. We usually eat dinner together on New Year’s Day.