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The Stages of New Year’s Eve
I can’t remember what my resolutions were last year but they couldn’t have been earth-shaking if I don’t recall them.
So I’ve given up resolutions. They always bring on depression when you know you’re not going to lose 15 pounds or take a speed reading course. I’m a pretty rapid reader as it is and who wants to whiz through a good book?
Then there’s the inevitable New Year’s Eve party. Whether it’s at a friend’s house or a formal club with hats and horns, your satisfaction probably depends on your age. When you’re single, that’s one thing. You might have a date or you might be engaged but you’ll have a great time since it’s no big deal at that age to stay up til 5 a.m.
I hate to break it to you, but those years fly by and in no time you can’t remember where they went. That’s because you now have four kids under five and haven’t slept much in all those years. So although you go to a New Year’s Eve party every year, you’re called to the telephone at least three times to calm down the babysitter. Actually, we’re pretty tired ourselves and on the dot of 12, we swallow one sip of champagne and go home.
As the years go by, the kids hit the teen years when they go to parties, too. Sometimes parents have to take their turn holding a sleepover. These are sometimes held on New Year’s Eve. Young girls go to a friend’s house to stay up all night giggling and squealing. They have a wonderful time, but the parents are up making pizza, popcorn, pigs in a blanket and chilling Coke.
At some time during the night, the parents throw themselves on top of their bed and try to get a few minutes of sleep. They bolt from their room when they hear screams. A girl has ripped her sleeping bag. It could have been when she leaped in the air and came down on the zipper. Since there are 11 bags all squished together, she climbs in with her best friend. The parents drag themselves back to bed.
Then the children leave for college and parents don’t know what’s going on. College is the Super Bowl of parties and during these years many parents experience gray hair and facial tics. The longest night of the year is New Year’s Eve when the college kids are home and out hooking up with their high school buddies.
The parents have gone to a party but actually came home at 11 p.m. The rest of the night is given over to pacing and waiting to hear the car Junior borrowed pull into the driveway. There is no more exciting sound than that.
And then there are the later years, when the responsibility of children has been passed to another generation. We can go to any party, but to tell the truth, we enjoy having a nice dinner and going home to watch a favorite movie. Wishing you a very happy New Year.
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