New Year's Traditions

[avoncallingu]

In our house, my mother used to say that your house had to be clean and all the laundry done before you rang in the new year or it would be "hanging over your head" all through the next year. (I guess I missed that midnight deadline last year - seems like we've ALWAYS got laundry to do! LOL!)

Also, my father would always ask you on New Year's Eve if you had seen "That man with as many noses on his face as there are days in the year?" That would always keep us kids busy looking for him. (Of course on New Year's Eve there is only 1 day (left) in the year) Got us every time!

What are your New Year Traditions?

[sarah_cio]

That's cute. We used to eat lots of snacks and appetizers and play games together as a family. It was really fun!

[MrsSunshine]

i like the laundry one.. working on it here.
no traditions just to have a good time. each year its different. we learn from year to year what works and what doesn't. some years we've been in bed by 9.. other years we've been out and partied til 3..

[Kelly5]

I like to plan something fun for New Year's. I find New Year's to be a disappointing celebration after Christmas. This year I'm going to First Night in Boston. It's supposed to be the largest new year's celebration in the country, even bigger than NYC!

[operabob]

My mother and her sister were extremely competitive when they were both alive. I remember when the Cabbage Patch Doll craze was happening and my aunt announced to my mother that she'd managed to score one. My mother responded, "I got two!"

Both prided themselves on their cooking with Christmas and New Year's being the great meals of the year with each trying to outdo the other.

The solution to the rivalry?

They drew straws.

My mother got the traditional Christmas meal while my aunt created a new family tradition:

Ethnic Food on New Year's Day

I loved going over. We'd all sit and watch the bowl games and then be surprised with a fabulous German. Mexican, Chinese, Italian or French meal. It was always a surprise and great fun.

[bargain_hunter_lola]

Not many traditions for our house for New years. I did pick up a few silly superstitions from my mom though. The 2 I can't bring myself to break are:

1) Never do laundry on New Years Day
2) Never put up a new calendar until that year arrives.

Both are supposed to be bad luck. I don't really believe them but I can't disregard them either. Weird. lol

[ninna]

Do not have your Christmas tree up for the new year. It's bad luck.

This isn't my tradition; rather, it comes from my MIL, but it has certainly rubbed off and now I spend New Year's Eve day packing up the Christmas tree.

Most superstitions stem from very real events though. I am sure that "back in the day" it was incredibly bad luck to have a Christmas tree up past the new year. Why? A bazillion years ago, they were real trees that were lit with candles. So you've got a real tree that has been drying out in your house for a few weeks and it's lit with candles. More than likely that sucker is gonna go up in flames which is bad luck indeed!

Heck, even when I was a kid there were tonnes of families that had their houses burn to the ground because the old lights would get real hot and the tree would catch fire and they would lose everything...sometimes before Christmas too. Thankfully we have LED Lights and that problem seems to happen less often.

Anyhoo....that's my tradition.

And yeah...I must've done laundry on New Year's day because there's been no shortage all freakin' year. Maybe this year I will unplug my washer so I don't jinx myself.

[SarahS83]

Clean Clean Clean! I come from the UK and my mum is Scottish. I never enter the new year with the crap from last year. I take down most of the decorations (Mainly to assist with cleaning haha) Then New Years day is a time to see family and have dinner etc. I do miss Scottish new years and going round to see everyone, they always had a pot of soup on to welcome you.

[Mia001]

we have a kind of a little tricky tradition in our family.....guess what ??? lol

other, we used to visit the oldest family members on the New Year day.....visit our grand parents.....even went with grand pa visit his when i was young....

[Darth Penguin]

Mr Penguin will be first footing possibly with some of the brood.

As a North-Eastern UKer..I'm another who tries to have a clean and tidy house without any laundry around.

[cherrycheers]

We often ceremoniously celebrate the Spring Festival which means the real new year to us. From the new year's eve, it's the time for us to get together with families for the big dinner and most people working outside prefer to going home. and different kinds of activities for the celebration, such as going to the temple, are hold during this festival. therefore, 1st Jan. is the national holiday for us, we treat it just like the normal holidays, relaxing at home, shopping with friends, making a short tour and so on...

[Patty Smyth]

I actually did clean all day but only because I have spent the better part of last week shovelling snow(dh is injured and can't lift anything, so I was on my own with 45 cm) so the inside got pretty neglected.

Just had a bowl of popcorn , hot chocolate and watched Loopers. At 10 I am going to watch The alien trilogy, I may get through part 1. lol

[screamy]

I cleaned today too, although it is hard sledding here indeed. One of my NY resolutions is to tame the paper clutter, including coupons, that seems to overtake my condo. I'm convinced that when I'm sleeping, the paper somehow multiplies like bunnies.

I'm from the East Coast, and we always got an orange in our stockings at Christmas for good luck. Every NYE, my stepmother would check to make sure we had eaten it before midnight, so we didn't miss out on our good luck for the next year. Usually, of course, they were long gone, but she always asked.

At the end of the year, I always go through all my accounts online and create a financial snapshot for myself. It would seem boring to anyone but SCers; we know how deeply gratifying it can be to compare year-over-year balances and see the results of all the hard work we've put in for the past 12 months.

And with that, I wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous, FPC-filled 2013!