Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
As far as alcohol goes, last year was the first time we allowed our teenagers to have alcohol at midnight. It is legal for children to drink at home in our state under parental supervision. I don't like the taste of wine and beer and they know that. We had a bottle of wine and we all had one glass for a toast. My husband and I are not big drinkers.
My home was always "dry" for the most part. Alcohol appeared on the table only at special occasions, including New Year's, and I wasn't allowed to have it. Fair enough. But the prohibitionist approach usually backfires. Oftentimes with contrived, comical workarounds, like with your truly. I mean, stuff like organizing a group with friends, fanning out to local grocery stores (to avoid the suspicion of one person getting many bottles at once), and buying tons vanilla extract in multiple visits.
Man oh man, fruit juice mixed with vanilla extract tasted nasty as hell. We didn't care.
I used to have three crazy girls spend the night on New Years Eve from two different families and not related to us. They were around six and eight when the two sisters spent the night the first time. The neighbors girl joined us a couple of years later. They spent about five or six New Years Eve's with us from about the ages of eight and ten. I miss those days. They stayed up until around 1am, and that's after a really busy day roller skating and walking all over the zoo to see the lights. We made origami snow flakes and played board games until midnight.
Now we have a six and eight year old in our life and they're both only children. The six year old spends the night with us with her parents. The six year old and eight year old have become friends and the eight year old wanted to spend the night with us last Easter. I have a feeling the New Years Eve tradition of having shorties in the house will come around again.
Let them stay up, let them spend the night and celebrate with friends. It's magic to them. Childhood is so short. You only have a couple of years of them believing in Santa and the rest.
My home was always "dry" for the most part. Alcohol appeared on the table only at special occasions, including New Year's, and I wasn't allowed to have it. Fair enough. But the prohibitionist approach usually backfires. Oftentimes with contrived, comical workarounds, like with your truly. I mean, stuff like organizing a group with friends, fanning out to local grocery stores (to avoid the suspicion of one person getting many bottles at once), and buying tons vanilla extract in multiple visits.
Man oh man, fruit juice mixed with vanilla extract tasted nasty as hell. We didn't care.
We aren't prohibitionist, but it's easy not to drink when most other people drink wine and beer and you don't like it. My husband likes beer, but mainly drinks that with friends because I don't drink it. I only like mixed drinks, but that is too high calorie for me on a regular basis. I'll cook or bake with beer and wine, but that is about it The kids are the ones who who showed me where it was legal for them to drink. I've told them if they want a glass of something, just to let me know. We'll have some. With New Year's tomorrow,and family visiting, we may have some then. I will let the kids have a drink then if they want.
Let them stay up, let them spend the night and celebrate with friends. It's magic to them. Childhood is so short. You only have a couple of years of them believing in Santa and the rest.
I agree. Even more so, the magic of New Year's Eve can be enjoyed for more years than Christmas. Most kids stop believing in Santa Claus around age 7. Plus, you gotta go to bed early on Christmas Eve to keep Santa from catching you being up late. Well, some people attend a midnight church service, and even then, it's usually the prerogative of adults and teens.
On the other hand, the taboo-like magic of staying up late like an adult lasts up until the preteen years, and kids generally love it. It's like doing something wrong without actually doing something wrong. My parents were very strict about many things, but staying up for New Year was one thing they were generous with.
I'm wondering: What's the general consensus for letting your kid(s) stay up on New Year's Eve nowadays? For the purpose of this discussion, assume we're talking about appropriate venues for staying up, like at home, at a family member's party, in a child-friendly restaurant, etc.
* From what age is it acceptable to let your kid stay up?
* Do you put them to bed at the stroke of midnight, or do you let them enjoy the actual *new* year?
* How do you occupy them?
* Does it make a difference if you have one child or multiple?
* If no, do you attend community events like New Year's Noon? (with simulated NYE activities held at noon)
Discuss!
We always let our kids try to stay up on NYE when they were little. I do remember my older sons wanting to stay up for the year 2000. My middle son was about 3 and fell asleep on the family room floor. My older son was 5 and he stayed up. My youngest was still a baby so he went to sleep.
We always stay home or go to a house party at a friend's house (even now that they are grown up).
We occupied them by going in the hot tub with them or playing games or watching tv with them. NYE in the hot tub is a tradition in our family.
My youngest is almost 8, my oldest, 14. They are all welcome to try and stay up until midnight. We are not NYE partiers. We stay home, watch movies, drink wine (DH and I) and soda, order in dinner. If they make it, they make it. My 14 year old will make it. Last year my youngest and middle did not make it. If the younger 2 make it, they will be in bed soon after the Happy New Year! When they were much smaller, I just put them to bed at the normal time, and I almost never made it until midnight in those days.
My son is 8 and there is still no part of me that wants to still be listening to him at midnight. No part.
lol!
it seems like my kids stay up so late on weekends that midnight is no big deal. I stay up to midnight or later every single night myself.
When I was little ( early 80s ), midnight was extremely late
Why not? Pop in some good movies and see if they can stay up if they want. Where I live, people climb Pikes Peak and set off fireworks for people down in the city to see at midnight, so that is a nice tradition to try to stay up and see.
My home was always "dry" for the most part. Alcohol appeared on the table only at special occasions, including New Year's, and I wasn't allowed to have it. Fair enough. But the prohibitionist approach usually backfires. Oftentimes with contrived, comical workarounds, like with your truly. I mean, stuff like organizing a group with friends, fanning out to local grocery stores (to avoid the suspicion of one person getting many bottles at once), and buying tons vanilla extract in multiple visits.
Man oh man, fruit juice mixed with vanilla extract tasted nasty as hell. We didn't care.
My kids are in their 30s, and I can't even remember any more when we allowed them to stay up until midnight. My wild guess would be at around 10 or so. No alcohol until they were about 18.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
