New Year's Eve - on a budget

My parents will be here over New Year’s Eve and have assured me that there’s nothing they’d rather do than sleep on an air mattress on Julian’s floor from 10 pm until 6.30 am on New Year’s Day when he awakens them by putting his face right up to my mom’s face and saying something 4-year old-ish like “Grandma, I dreamed about a pirate but he wasn’t a bad guy and he had a purple dinosaur but it wasn’t Barney. It was a pterodactyl!”

So what will we do that night? We have to go out, right? Free babysitting– only a loser would stay in. But what I’ve learned about adult New Year’s Eves is that it costs a ton to go out. Restaurants like to have fixed price menus that start at $50 per person and don’t include drinks. Bars are rented out for parties. I don’t really want to spend an evening in a bar with strangers anyway.

Last New Year’s Eve, Heather and Alec had us over for a night of games. Their kids were asleep and I can’t even remember what we did with ours. They were either sleeping at Heather and Alec’s or at home with a set of grandparents. Anyhow, if you ask Heather any question, the answer is likely to be an indoor game or activity, so it’s no surprise that she was quoted in an AP article about “Ringing in the New Year on A Budget”.

And! She was able to get our book mentioned, so Go Heather! I owe you one!

I can only hope that someone will invite us for a party, and we will be able to act totally cool like it’s no big deal to go somewhere on New Year’s Eve, babysitter’s in the bag, we go out whenever we like with no worries about finding someone to stay here with the kids.

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Whitney

RookieMoms.com co-founder Whitney lives with her husband, son, and daughter in the San Francisco Bay Area where she writes about parenting, crafts, and activities that moms can do with babies in tow. She and Heather also publish 510Families.com, a site for East Bay parents.