by: Norma Schmidt
Believe it or not, you CAN enjoy a New Year?s Eve bash once you have kids ? even if you CAN?T get a sitter!
PRESCHOOLERS AND KIDS IN THE EARLY ELEMENTARY GRADES LOVE GETTING INTO THE NEW YEAR'S SPIRIT.
To build excitement, announce a day or two ahead of time that you?re going to have a night-time New Year?s party with pajamas on.
Then, when you go grocery shopping, you can let your child pick out a party snack.
A trip to a party store for some inexpensive noisemakers will add to the excitement.
Or, create home-made noisemakers and decorations together. Visit familycrafts.about.com/od/newyears or http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/newyear/ for ideas.
On the afternoon or early evening of December 31, sit down together with some oversized construction paper, glue sticks, markers, crayons and scissors and make party hats.
Now, here?s the sweet part: Young children don?t seem to mind at all if ?midnight? comes at 9 PM ? or even earlier!
All you need to do is put on your party hats, pick your time, count down from 10 and yell ?Happy New Year!? with lots of noise and hugs and kisses.
Then enjoy your party snack.
HAVE OLDER KIDS IN THE HOUSE?
You have even more fun choices as kids mature.
You can:
Print out the words to ?Auld Lang Syne? (?times long past?) from the Internet and learn to sing it as a family.
You can get the words and hear the tune at http://wilstar.com/xmas/auldlangsyne.htm
Put into a box all the ticket stubs, souvenirs and photos you?ve saved from the year that?s ending.
Take turns pulling items out of the box and sharing fond memories.
With adult supervision, let kids make home-made party snacks.
Rent funny movies or old sitcoms to watch together.
Maybe Abott and Costello or ?The Honeymooners? will tickle your family?s funny bone.
Invite everyone to write down on a strip of toilet tissue events from the year that they want to put behind them.
Then ceremoniously (or unceremoniously!) flush away.
Play an old-fashioned game of charades.
You might want to print out the special charades sign language from http://www.answers.com/topic/charades-2
Invite family members to write down hopes and intentions for the coming year on slips of paper.
Each person can seal their paper in an envelope, to be opened the following New Year?s Eve if desired.
After your celebration, consider saving your noisemakers and decorations to use again.
Kids enjoy rediscovering their old favorites from year to year.
As for you ? Who knows?
Maybe the kids will take you to a whole new level of New Year?s fun.
(c) Norma Schmidt, LLC
About The Author
Norma Schmidt, M.A., M.Div., helps busy parents create peaceful, connected, spiritually well-fed families.
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5 Tips For Choosing Gifts
5 Tips For Choosing Gifts
by: Tracy Billings
We all love to receive gifts, whether it's at Christmas or birthdays, or even a special anniversary. But in order to keep getting gifts, we have to give them to others too. And happily we like that part of the bargain almost as much as the receiving bit. Here are a few tips that may help you choose the right gift for the right person.
1. To help make up your mind you can easily read reviews of gifts you are considering buying at places like Amazon.com, Buy.com, Epinions.com, BizRate.com, etc. And of course, you can even purchase from there too.
2. Price comparison for gifts is easy if you're switching between sites like Shopping.com,
5 Tips For Choosing Gifts
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Why Custom Design Your Own Hat?
Why Custom Design Your Own Hat?
by: James McDonald
For starters, what exactly defines a customized hat? It is made to order suiting your specific requirements in regards to color and emblem (if required), and even can be prefitted for your head. You are assured that the product you receive will be one that precisely suits your tastes and is as original as you want it to be. You can apply your own ideas or use those of the company you're buying from. Either way your hat will be perfectly matched to you with just the styling you are looking for.
The process of customizing the design of your cap is not that difficult. You may think that it is a complicated process but when you learn more about it you will quickly be reassured. Once you find a good company that specializes in this you will be asked a series of questions regarding style, color, and emblem. Next, should you need to do so you can specify a size to make sure the fit is perfect. After...
Why Custom Design Your Own Hat?
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Milestone Birthday Ideas, a Roast
Milestone Birthday Ideas, a Roast
by: Mike Hamilton
Milestone Birthdays can be a lot of fun.
One idea for celebrating a milestone is a roast. One of my favorite themes for a birthday roast is a memorial.
The first thing you will want to do is send out the birthday invitations formatted like an obituary.
A cheesy black and white picture of a younger version of the decedent adds a touch of legitimacy to the document.
If you or any of your cronies have a flair for creative writing this can be a very warm and funny tribute, as well as a keepsake for all attendees.
The location for the roast or memorial should be as somber as possible and decorated as such.
Be sure to greet the guests in your with your most solemn and understated demeanor.
Just before the festivities begin have your pall bearers bring in the cake, unlit.
Make it as realistic as possible and give the pall bearers...
Hats > Milestone Birthday Ideas, a Roast
Unique Baby Shower Gift Ideas
Unique Baby Shower Gift Ideas
by: Barbara Stubblefield
Baby showers are a very special event in any mother's life. It is not just a party where the guests are expected to buy "things" that baby will need when they arrive. It is a special celebration of a new life about to be born into the world. While the games, food and drinks are important, the baby's gift is what will matter 10, 20, even 30 years from now. Why not make it special?!
Unique baby shower gifts are something that mom and baby will cherish for a lifetime. Think of a unique gift as something that can be stored away in a hope chest and then passed on through generations.
Think of a unique baby shower gift as something that wouldn't necessarily be on a gift registry and you certainly wouldn't find a unique gift at your local chain store. The best baby shower gift is a crafted one of a kind creation. Here is a list of awesome, unique baby shower gifts that any parent-to-be...
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7 Powerful Tips on Creating Good Content for your Website
7 Powerful Tips on Creating Good Content for your Website
by: Jan Peterson
7 Powerful Tips on Creating Good Content for your Website
So what is all the talk about having a lot of "content" on my website? And what is "content" exactly? And how will it help my business grow and prosper? I get these questions from my internet students all of the time. Let me say this?Having a lot of great content is one of the key ingredients to those websites that are successful and profitable.
Once I explain the value of content to my students they almost always chime back with "but I can't write!" Never fear, there is always an answer for the creative mind.
1. Don't Like to Write - Find Those that Do
One of the simplest solutions if you don't like to write is to find those that do.
Where? Elance.com is a good place to start. They have all kinds of writers that write on all subjects. Sign up...
7 Powerful Tips on Creating Good Content for your Website
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Is A Stay At Home Business Right For You?
Is A Stay At Home Business Right For You?
by: Jeff Schuman
Your dream is to have your own home business and to tell the boss "Good-Bye". An excellent dream to have, a little exciting and a little scary at the same time. Before taking that big step, take a long hard realistic look at yourself and determine "Is a stay at home business right for me?"
What is your personality? Are you an extrovert or an introvert? Do you enjoy talking to everyone you see or are you the type that has trouble talking to a stranger? Do you love number crunching, administration, computers, researching, etc.? Are you a leader or a follower? A risk taker? These are important questions to ask yourself? You want your business to match your personality and talents. Look at your business idea, does it match your personality and talents? If it does not, you will struggle to make it a success. Start a stay at home business that is right for you.
Do you...
Is A Stay At Home Business Right For You?
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