Celebrate a Family New Year
© Irene Taylor
Don't let all of the talk about the millenium prevent you from having a great year end celebration with your family. This year is an especially good time to start some family New Year traditions, to think back on things that have happened in the past year, decade, and century, and to look ahead to the future. Try some of these fun ideas with your family before the clock strikes 12 on 01/01/00!
Looking Back:
Take time to reflect on events which have occurred in the past year. Do some things which will preserve those memories for the future. Give these ideas a try:
Create a scrapbook: Make a list of memorable events which have occurred in the past. You may wish to include all of the 20th century, or just the years since your children were born. Search for pictures of memorable events. Include family snapshots. Make drawings. Create a visual record that you can look back upon and remember times gone by.
Interviews: Give your children a sense of the past by having them interview older relatives or friends. Let the older person compare life today with life when he or she was a youngster. You may wish to have your child write a memoir of Grandma or Grandpa after the interview is completed.
Create a Family Time Capsule: A time capsule is a wonderful way to preserve important memories of the past which can be looked at someday in the future. Have each member of the family include items for the time capsule. Be creative with the items you choose. Children may include a favorite small toy or book. Perhaps you'll want to include clippings from magazines and newspapers. How about something from a collection you may have? Pokemon cards or Beanie Babies make excellent inclusions. You may also wish to include letters or stories written by each family member describing life in 1999. Let your little ones draw if they can't write. And be sure to include some photographs to remember what you all looked like in 1999! Put all of the collected objects in a suitable container and store them away. Decide on a date to open the time capsule and enjoy a walk down memory lane.
Looking Ahead:
New Year's Eve is also a great time to look ahead, especially this year. Take a little time to do some thinking about the future before the stroke of midnight!
Year 2000 Predictions: How will life be different in the 2000's. What will the future bring? Write down your predictions for science, medicine, discoveries, space travel, or whatever else you think may happen. Seal your predictions and put them away to be read on an agreed upon date in the coming years.
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