Happy New Year at Home

New Year's Eve just might be the most overrated night to hit the town all year.  From inflated prix-fixe dinners, to the challenge of finding a sitter, to the worries over how much other drivers on the road have been "celebrating," this night out can loose its luster once you become a parent.

But keeping a youngster up until midnight (on purpose!) doesn't sound all that great either, so family celebrations at home require a bit of creativity.  Here are some ideas for a fun, yet reasonably sane, family New Year's Eve celebration.

• Change the clocks--make it "midnight" at 9 pm (hey, it's already 2012 in Greenland at that point).
• Make some fun New Years Eve crafts, such as water bottle or paper plate noise makers, decorate your own party hat, make a clock out of a paper plate, do a family time capsule or come up with family resolutions or goals for the New Year and post somewhere you will see it every day.
• Get all decked out in your very best New Years Eve outfit, even if you are at home, and enjoy a night of dancing and just being together.
• At dinner time, talk about goals, plans, hopes, and resolutions, both individually and as a family.
• Get out those picture albums, baby books or albums online and talk about your favorite moments of the year.
• Teachable moment--give new calendars to the kids.  Great opportunity to talk about the days of the week, months of the year, etc.  You can also go through and write in important events like birthdays and the last day of school.

We wish you all the very best this New Year! Happy 2012