It was a full house. Eight adults and ten kids ranging from age five to three months. One lake house with lots of rooms. It was a full house.
We spent New Year’s Eve at a friend’s lake house this year. It was a gathering of our people. The ones we are “doing life with,” so to speak. I packed cozy clothes and my new Ugg slippers along with enough food to feed an army and two pack and plays. We were gathering for just two nights, but time together under one roof is precious and I anticipated it with much excitement.
For two days kids ran around in every imaginable kind of costume. Batman sparred with Olaf, princesses played with chefs. There was fort building and movie watching. There were snowball fights and crafts. It was exactly the right space for my little family this exact moment.
On our first morning there we woke to a milk container that had mysteriously shattered in the refrigerator overnight. This is when eight adults are at their best. We worked quickly and efficiently and in no time that fridge was cleaned out, wiped down and put back together. And then we all had champagne for breakfast. It was supposed to be mimosas, but no one brought orange juice and after all we’d been through we felt like champagne for breakfast was justified.
For two days the adults enjoyed conversations that happened lazily over coffee and picked up again during lunch. We were interrupted but able to find the plot again because we had the time and space to do it. We talked about what the year ahead held. We laughed together a lot. We blasted my “dancing in the kitchen playlist” while we prepared a happy hour feast and danced to the songs of our high school and college days. We had fun together.
On New Year’s Eve we fed kids dinner early. While they scarfed down frozen pizza and clementine oranges we nibbled on appetizers and enjoyed some beverages. Then we busted out hats and funny 2016 glasses and had ourselves a dance party. Toots was in her element spinning and rocking out to the KidzBop Pandora station. My little Red showed off her dance moves, dropping it like it was hot at one point. We had fun with our kids, twirling and singing and laughing. Thanks to the magic of Netflix we played the Carebears countdown and rang in the New Year at 6:59pm, hugging our little people and toasting with sparkling cider.
And then the kids went to bed and the grown ups got to take our time savoring a meal and connecting around the table. For a little while we checked in with how we were “really doing” and shared a glimpse of what’s going on behind the chaos that is raising little people.
And because of those little people who would be awake and ready for action at an unsuitable hour we ourselves watched the East Coast New Year’s countdown and rang in the New Year at 11:01pm. And then we promptly went to bed.
I’ve never been a big NYE person. I love the idea of it. The romantic notion of beginning a new year with celebration. I like the idea of champagne and gold, glittery dresses and dancing. But I’ve never gone so far as to shell out a hundred bucks for a ticket to a party at some hotel or bar. My best New Year’s Eves involved dinner out somewhere fancier than the local Chili’s with people I really love and watching the countdown on TV.
It was a little different kind of NYE this year. There meal was homemade and there was not a high heeled shoe in sight. This year the best part of New Year’s Eve was the dance party with our little people. Laughing with our friends who understand so intimately just what this crazy stage of life it. It was a different kind of NYE, this one that revolved around our kiddos. But it may have been my favorite one yet.
We’re in a new phase of life, this season of four kiddos five and under. There will be less meals out and more game nights in with our kids. Less time away and more time together. I’m ready for it, excited even to start creating the same kind of family memories I have with my own family. And I’m thankful for this tribe of people who love my kids as much as their own and are willing to ring a new year in with chaos and laughter and little people. Our family is better because of them.
It’s been a month since we kicked off the New Year with these friends but I’m still so thankful for the ways in which it set a tone for our year. It was everything I needed as I closed out one year and began another. It was equal parts family and friends, thoughtful and fun, challenging and light. It was a different kind of NYE. It was just what we needed.
