We always ring in the new year as a family. When my mother was young my grandfather wanted a way to keep all of the children off the roads at night. So he started the family New Year’s Eve tradition. To be fair we were allowed to bring a date, and I almost always did, for my own sanity. As a teenager we often complained about having to spend the night with family instead of out with friends, but in the end we always had a good time.
We played games, had a big dinner, read fortune cookies, and read everyone’s Top Tens. Each parent made a list of their child’s top ten accomplishments of the year and typed them out. We’d sit around in a big circle and guess who’s was who’s. This tradition has been going on since long before I was born. As a kid, it was always fun to sit around and listen for which one was yours. I loved looking back and remembering the things that I had done over the past year. It gave each person something to be proud of and reminded them how much they had truly accomplished that year.
As a parent, writing out Top Tens for each child can get a little tedious. It takes a while to remember everything that has gone on over the past year, especially when your mind is busy getting ready for the night’s festivities, but I think it is a valuable tradition. It will be something your kids can look back on and share with their own children someday. As the years go by we tend to forget some of the big things that have happened, with Top Tens it is all cataloged so that we can look back someday and see just how much we have done throughout our lives.
This year we are continuing the tradition at home. The original plan of keeping everyone off the roads on New Year’s was defeated with everybody driving to Grandma and Grandpa’s, but the tradition will live on in our own homes. Happy New Year!