New Year’s Eve - what do you do as a family?

[Jungfraujoch]

Me, DH, DS x2 aged 17 and 12. Apart from cooking a nice meal, what could we do?

My DC are younger sorry but I remember as a teen myself going to cinema with parents & brother?

We normally go swimming, then to our lovely friends who host every new year. Normally some party games for the kids and there are little presents between the families. At bedtime we chuck about 10 kids into a room and hope they sleep while we get pissed and try to light a campfire.

Sadly this year I will be working night shift though.

We stay in! Both DH and I hate NYE and our DC are 13 and 9 and not bothered by it because we're not.

Last year we went reluctantly to a party and it was awful! We don't drink much so we were horrified by people staggering around pissed and so forth.

We're staying IN this year. We might have a nicer dinner than usual but that's all.

We stay in with pizza, board games and films. Have the same discussion every year about why there is never anything decent to watch on tv, ends in an argument because DH wants to watch Jools Holland and I cannot bear his awful, fake-fun recorded weeks ago programme.

We go and spendnd our Christmas vouchers then pizza express and then Star Wars movie, luckily there always seems to be one.

And open the front door at midnight, to hear the fireworks and let the old year out and the new one in.

My husbands grandfather died on new years eve so its not something we typically celebrate. Cosy night in, bottle of fizz, takeaway and try and keep our weary eyes open until 12:00. 12:01 lights off and asleep. We have 2 dc (4 & 8) and let them stay up as late as they like. Just a nice quiet family night in x

DC each have a friend round and we let them decide what they want to do. Mostly they're happy doing their own thing all evening and DH & I just watch a film. Even just staying up till midnight and watching the fireworks on telly seems to be enough for them.

We spend the day sorting the house so we start the new year tidy and organised, and we try to get to the food bank and the charity shop to do something good, I don’t know why I do this, just feels right? Then it’s nice meal and we wake the children later to watch the fireworks on the telly and out of the window of our neighbours have some as they sometimes do.

its an odd day this year we are going to NT property to look at the lights but will go to bed earlyish maybe...try and have lovely meal out the next day

Our kids are small so don't get involved yet, and DH and I generally just go to bed early. We don't like new year's eve at all, we far prefer new year's day. It feels so much more fresh and positive, somehow, than trying to frantically party away the last hours of the old year.

Looking forward to our first NYE at home for years - in the past we would stay over with relatives, which was nice but meant I would miss my own cosy bed and not get a lie in the next day... We've also been to parties the last couple of years which are fun at the time but when you're staggering home at 2am in the cold - and then feel shit for the whole of the next day - it doesn't seem like such a great idea.

So this year we're staying at home with the DC, getting a take away and playing board games

I loved NYE when I was younger. Now we don't do anything and I find it a slightly maudlin event. I can't help just feeling weird about the end of another year of my life and find myself getting a bit down from about 4pm...even though I have nothing to feel down about! So instead I focus on New Years Day now, up early, nice breakfast and a long walk, maybe visit family, try to make it a special day.

We take turns with friends with similar age children to host a dinner. Works well. Lots of good food, chat and booze with good friends after a seemingly endless week seeing various relatives.

For years we have been go on a trek around town to friends house - we go to them and then they come to our house later. This year we are going to Birmingham to see Blue Man Group and staying over. Its a bit of non-event for me after Christmas so it will be nice to see what's it like to go out for a change.

We are going star gazing. Out in the wilds, camping chairs, build a fire ( its fine, DP is a firefighter and it's allowed where we are going) flasks of hot chocolate and hot damson gin toddy. Sausages cooked on the fire and rum and chocolate brownies. Me DP, DSs (23,21 and 19).

As long as it's not raining!

I have never liked NYE and always go to bed around 10 and sleep through the fireworks.

This year it's bowling with family friends, dinner at a restaurant, children in bed by 8 pm, tv and wine later as we bring in the new year

Some great ideas there thank you all so much. What I’d forgotten to factor in is the dog - no one to look after him this year and wouldn’t leave him with fireworks going off so looks like it’ll be nice food/films and games!

A bit different coz I'm not UK based, but we go to a local town centre on the waterfront which throws a kids party from 4pm and then fireworks at 7pm to helpfully coincide with uk new year and normally we head home about 8pm, put the kids to bed and DH and I demolish a shot ton of cheese, biscuits and champagne before falling into food comas at around 10.30.

This year a friends mum is throwing a massive party at a beach bar, so after the 7pm fireworks, the kids are off on a collective sleepover whilst we party like rockstars at a free flowing Veuve cliquot and Mojito bar.

Can't bloody wait, not bothered that it's new year but beach parties are legendary!

We usually invite close friends and then have dinner. But since we just moved to a new place I think we'll just have dinner together with my sister niece.