Once upon a time, ringing in the New Year meant parties, confetti, champagne toasts and excitedly counting down until the clock struck midnight. Now that you’re a mom, those may seem like distant memories that won’t be in your future for a long time to come.
In fact, you may be glad to trade those parties for a few extra hours of precious sleep if you have an infant. But that doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate. Ringing in the New Year may look a little different now, but it doesn’t have to be less special. We have some ideas to help make the 2019 New Year your most special one yet!
Celebrate big from home.You don’t have to go out to have a good time. Stop by the store to get some champagne, your favorite snacks and party favors galore. You’ll be able to choose all of your favorites, plus you don’t have to fight the party all evening before the New Year rings in.
You could even skip the store and fun with some DIY projects like these confetti poppersor these party hats. If you’re planning to include your kids in any way, this idea is doubly fun, because they can have fun leading up to the countdown even if they don’t stay up all night.
Create a time capsule.If you want to go a nontraditional route, or even start a New Year tradition of your own, take some time to build a time capsule of your year. Go back through photos and keepsakes you’ve collected over the course of the year and put them all in a box.
Take a walk down memory lane and write down some of your favorite happenings from the year. If you want to try something a little different, customize a time capsule with some of your kids’ favorite thingsfrom the year. Or, create fun fill-in-the-blank cardsfor what you think the world will be like in 10-20 years.
Take a nap and set your alarm.If you want to watch the ball drop during the countdown the 2019, take a quick nap and wake up in time to enjoy it from the comfort of your couch. With a new little one, your sleep is too precious to stay up all night just waiting for the countdown to begin.
Instead, sleep for a few hours and then get up with your partner to have quiet time together as you ring in the New Year. Sip on some champagne or coffee and snuggle on the couch together in front of the fireplace. Doesn’t that beat being bundled up out in a crowd, elbow-to-elbow with strangers?
Include your kids.You could also have a fun family night and let your kids stay up late to celebrate with you. Pick out a movie to watch early in the night and plan some fun games and activities like these family mad libsto help the time pass quickly.
Maybe you’ll even make a New Year “themed” dinner, with food in the shape of each digit in 2019, like this fun pizza. Not only will you ring in the year making fun memories together, but you may even start a new family tradition!
Celebrate with a special breakfast instead.If you don’t want to stay up late – or even take a nap and get back up – then plan a yummy breakfast instead. Get up early and make a big breakfast – pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs, toast and anything else yummy you can get your hands on. If you want to plan ahead, you can make a casserole or other dishthat simply needs to be warmed up so that any other prep is minimal.
When you wake up in 2019, spend some quality downtime as a family. Don’t rush out to do anything or make any big plans for the day. Instead, relax together as you dream big and talk about all of the fun things you’d like to do during 2019. Create fun resolutions and think about a family bucket list full of things you want to do together in the year ahead.
