New Year's Eve (Toddler-Style)

New Year's Eve (Toddler-Style)

If you have decided to forgo the babysitter/overpriced prix-fixed combo tonight and hang out at home with the kiddos, you might appreciate this to-do list for making NYE memorable for your preschooler.

1. Watch the Ball Drop... on YouTube

Toddlers don't understand time zones.  If you don't believe me, take yours to Hawaii for a week.  This means that if you live out west, like me, you can start your new year out with a good night's sleep by watching the ball drop on a live feed from New York at 9 or 10pm.  And if you're an east-coaster, you can always watch last year's countdown (or skip Carson and google an old Clark one).  A quick look at the musical lineup assures me not much has changed in a year - and apparently Pitbull is still popular.  Who knew?

2. Make a Resolution

If you're lucky, the conversation may go a little like the one I had with my three-year-old this morning:

Me: Tonight is New Year's Eve.

Noah: What do we do on New Year's Eve?

Me: Some people make resolutions - things they want to change about themselves in the coming year.  Do you want to change anything?

Noah: Hmmmmm... I want to change into an octopus.  What color octopus do I want to be?  Maybe red?

Me: Sounds good to me.

Noah: Benny should change into a ladybug.

3. Drink Something Bubbly

If you don't like Shirley Temples we might have a hard time staying friends.  I still order them at fancy restaurants from time to time.  I've never found one that quite measures up to the grenadine-laden version my parents used to let us order once a year at our favorite restaurant near their house southeast of Detroit - homemade whipped cream AND a plastic sword full of cherries. 

Just give yourself a buffer between sugary drinks and bedtime.

4. Make Some Noise (and Expect Some)

At some point in my childhood my parents adopted the idea of running out your back door, around your house and into your front door at midnight.  It had something to do with "out with the old and in with the new". Oh yeah, and we would bang pots and pans with metal spoons while we did this.  I think we chalked it up to being a Polish tradition, but I'm not really sure how it started.  What I am fairly sure of is that the neighbors on their quiet street probably didn't appreciate it nearly as much as us kids.  Which is why my boys will have free reign on the kitchen cupboards tonight and also why I plan to turn their white noise machines up high when I put them to bed at 10pm. 

5. Express Gratitude 

Even toddlers can understand this... and if they don't yet, it's a great time to start.  Have them list off the people they love.  If you pray, have them pray for those people in the year to come.  Talk about all of the wonderful things they've learned and experienced over the past year and how excited you are to spend the next year watching them grow.  And don't forget to get your New Year's kiss goodnight!

The Resolution to Blog

The Resolution to Blog

2 BOYS 0 EXCUSES 1 YEAR 4 MONTHLY POSTS

2 Boys

These are my two boys, Noah and Benjamin.  They qualify me for the mommy part of mommy "bloggerdom".  

 

0 Excuses

I have lots of excuses for not starting a blog.

Here are my top five:

1. great blogs tend to be highly opinionated:

This isn't a problem because I lack opinions (you can confirm that with my husband).  It's just that a lot of times I tend to like being liked more than I like being right.  I also have a background in news and although some people may find it hard to believe I have always tried my darndest to keep an open mind and remain as neutral as humanly possible throughout my career.  So if you don't agree with something on this blog, please feel free to reply or post a comment.  You may change my mind or give me a new way of looking at things.  But no matter what, please remember, I like you more than my blog.

2. mommy blogs have giveaways and coupons, right?:

I hate coupons.  They make me want to buy stuff I don't need and they pile up in little expired stacks around my house.  I also don't have anything to give away - unless you want my expired coupons.  However, a little research has confirmed that not all mommy blogs operate this way, so I have decided I will not feel guilty about this.

P.S. I'll admit, I like 'Kohl's cash'.

3. i think i have already started two other blogs (and they still have only one post each):

This is true.  I think I started a blog before I moved from New York City to Colorado and I know I started one right before I had Noah.  I forgot which site hosted the first one, as well as the password and login, so it's been sacrificed to the internet gods.  As for the second, for a moment it was called "A Mile High with Dani & Ry"... it's a reference to Denver "The Mile High City", but my older sister couldn't stop laughing about "mile high" innuendos so I abandoned it.  However, I'm already working on the second post for this blog so I can move on knowing that I've broken my own record.

4. no one will want to read it:

I have decided I'm okay with this.  The real reason for the blog is to keep me writing with some regularity, so it shouldn't really matter if anyone reads it.  Also, my sweet Mom said she'll always read what I write so I know I'll get at least one site visit.  (Thanks Mom!)

5. i don't have the time:

I am writing this during the elusive simultaneous nap.  My boys line up their naps about twice a week and because I'm not one of those amazing moms who wakes up before their kids in the morning, I bank on these occasional overlaps to get stuff done.  If this were 2019 my little acronym might not have worked as well, but as long as the kiddos don't start plotting against me I think I can stay on top of this.

1 Year 

I don't know about you, but I do a lot better with things that have end dates.  So I'm committing to a year and promise to re-evaluate next December.

4 Monthly Posts

I could say I will post weekly, but I like the flexibility of four monthly posts.  That way if I procrastinate (which I'm wont to do), I can hammer out four at the end of the month and still not feel like a total failure.