New Year's Ramblings

It’s New Year’s. For many Americans, that means celebrating the Turning of the Calendar in a manner that ensures they won’t remember the first few hours of the New Year.

I might have partaken of such celebrations at one time, specifically before the children. At least, I might have driven Ellie so she could partake of such celebrations since I don’t drink, preferring instead to get my mind-altering experiences from sleep deprivation.

Instead of celebrating, Ellie is working, and I’m home with the kids, blogging while they sleep, passing the time until the clock hits midnight, and I can officially say I stayed awake until the New Year.

Ellie and I will celebrate the New Year tomorrow in our own special way that involves the Snickers cheesecake in the fridge. Or maybe we celebrated the New Year yesterday over a feast of broasted chicken, knowing we wouldn’t be able to commemorate the New Year on time. Either way, I’m eating cheesecake on January 1st.

Staying up until midnight takes amazing skill when you’re a primary caregiver. Between herding children through their routines, cleaning up messes, and cleaning up the messes they made while I was cleaning up the first mess, I’m exhausted by the time my target bedtime rolls around. I’m usually ready to faint by the time I actually make it to bed, and that’s still several minutes before midnight. Fortunately, my kids always sleep late in the morning, giving me a realistic chance of making it until midnight unlike those poor parental souls who have to wake at dawn every morning.

I saw a couple events around that celebrate New Year’s at noon on December 31st. They’re geared for families with small children, though I’m not sure if their targets are the children too young to stay awake until midnight, or the parents to ragged to stay awake until midnight. Next year I’d like to go to one of these events. Abbie should be old enough to enjoy it. Ellie should be home to help me tote the kids. Most importantly, I’ll still be tired enough to be unable to stay awake until midnight.

Happy 2007