New Year : Ideas For A Lucky New Year With The Family
Having kids changes the way you do everything! They bring joy to every event, but that joy requires a little bit of adjusting, including how you spend all your major holidays. There are a few more seats at the Thanksgiving table, a lot more presents under the Christmas tree, and New Year's Eve is spent at home -- but that doesn't mean you can't celebrate it. Here are 4 ideas for a lucky new year with the family.
Light Up The Night
Bonfires light up the night on New Year's Eve in the Netherlands. It's a tradition to symbolize getting rid of the past to make room for the future. You can re-create the idea at home with the kids without setting fire to anything. Turn on a few flameless candles and give your kids glow sticks to wave away the old year and welcome the new year. If you insist in staying true to the tradition, building a fire in the fireplace can be part of your yearly celebration.
Clean Up Your Act
The Chinese New Year is a celebration that is taken very seriously. Though it doesn't take place at the same time we celebrate the new year, it doesn't mean we can draw upon Chinese customs to make some of our own. One such custom is to clean the house from top to bottom. The idea is to get rid of all the bad luck from the previous year for a fresh and lucky start for the next year. It's a good way to get your kids to clean their rooms, but try to make it fun by turning it into a dance party with and serving special treats when the clock strikes midnight.
Laugh In The New Year
In the minds of the Japanese, laughing is lucky! That is, if you're laughing when the clock tells you a new year is here. In Japan, that first laugh is a shield against evil spirits and leads to a lucky and prosperous new year. You and your kids may not be able to laugh on command, but you can practice by watching a funny movie or give each other gag gifts in the name of having a lucky year. Welcoming the new year with a good chuckle might be the best way to start it off right.
Feast Of Fortune
Food is the center of many New Year's Eve traditions for different cultures all over the world. If you want to make a truly lucky feast, make a smorgasbord using lucky foods from several countries:
Main course: Ham -- Pork symbolizes progress in Austria because pigs root forward rather than backward. Consider it grub for growth.
On the side: Greens and beans -- Black eyed peas and collard greens are served in the south for a prosperous year because of their resemblance to money.
Dessert: Cake -- Many countries eat round cakes to symbolize coins for a fortunate year. For the new year, Greeks make a cake with a coin baked into it -- the person served the piece with the coin in it will have a good year. If cake isn't an option, serve cookies -- it's the shape of coins that's important to be considered lucky so just about any cookie recipe you find in your Pioneer Woman cookbook will work.
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