Guest Author - Susan Thompson

You don’t have to wait until the stroke of midnight to celebrate New Year’s with your kids. There are quite a few things you can do during the day on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day to celebrate. Feel free to use some of the ideas here and adapt them to your family’s lifestyle.

Celebrate around the world. Every hour it is turns 2008 in a different place. To help your kids figure out what time it will be here when Japan rings in 2008 go to www.timeanddate.com and check out the world clock. You can make a chart with all of the places you are interested in and what time it is here when they start 2008. This way you can celebrate the New Year every hour.

Remember the past year by making a family journal or scrapbook. Each person can add their own memories of the year gone by. Include photos, descriptions of special events, and tokens from places you visited. It amazes me how everyone has such a different memory of the same event.

Make a time capsule to open next New Year’s Eve. Time capsules are great fun to open even after only one year. Your time capsule can include goals for the New Year, special memories of the past year, a list of each family member’s dreams for the New Year, or anything else you can think of that will be fun to look at next New Year’s Eve.

While you are making your time capsule, you may be thinking of how many things you wanted to do in the last year that you never got around to doing. Why not make a family to-do list. It could include things like movies to see, books to read, places you want to visit, or events your family would enjoy attending. Place this list on the refrigerator, and the next free weekend, pick something off the list and do it, or get out the new calendar and schedule some of these activities before your calendar gets too full.

If you decide to let the kids stay up until midnight, and why not it is only once a year right, give them some pots and spoons and let them have a New Year’s parade in the yard. Our neighbors expect this and actually, I think they will miss it when my kids are grown, I know I will.

The years will pass by quickly. With a little effort and imagination, you can make special occasions really special for your kids.

Wishing you all New Year filled with love, comfort, smiles, good fortune, good health, and giggles with your kids!