New Year’s Traditions: Why Important?
Welcome 2018!
Ah, a fresh new year full of hope and possibilities! What will you do with your new year?
Tradition reigns when ringing in a brand new year. I love learning about the ways people all over the world bring in the new year. What traditions do you celebrate in your family?
Here in the southern United States, New Year’s Eve traditions include:
Fireworks at midnight!
New Year’s Day meals of black-eye peas (To bring good luck)
And cabbage (To bring prosperity)
I combine black eye peas and cabbage in a soup each year. I always get asked if the kids eat it and no, they won’t touch it. I guess, for the time being, they will have to rely on the good luck is brings us! 🙂
Traditions help keep us connected to the past – like my Great-Grandmother’s spaghetti sauce I make every year for Christmas.
Use New Year’s Eve traditions from your upcoming family vacation spot to get everyone in the spirit.
New Year’s Eve traditions in Turkey
Turkey has the tradition of wearing red underwear to ring in the new year! What a fun tradition!
New Year’s Eve traditions in Ireland
This is a fun tradition I know the kids can love – especially the boys! You keep bread out from Christmas until New Year’s eve. Then, you take the stale bread and whack it on the walls on New Year’s Day. This noise keeps the bad spirits away. (And any other creepy crawly that has stowed away in the walls, I guess!) I can just see the kids getting into the spirit with this one! The clean up of crumbs would surely make our dogs really happy, too!
New Year’s Eve traditions in Belgium
This is one of my favorites. Kids write letters and cards with good wishes and holiday greetings for adults. They are read at midnight. Kids take great care to decorate the letters. Isn’t that sweet? It is also a great way to practice those skills in school that they swear they will never need in ‘real’ life.
New Year’s Eve traditions in Romania
Children get in on the act here, too, with the decoration of a small tree branch. Decorations include brightly colored ribbons and flowers to wish the adults in the house good luck for the new year. Then, on New Year’s day, coins are tossed into water in order to bring fortune in the coming year.
Find New Year’s Eve traditions for countries around the world here.
Traditions are valuable. Traditions help us:
*Create a way to connect to the past
*Create a way to feel part of something bigger than just one person
*Create a way to learn about each other
*Create a time to pause and reflect on the past
*Create a time to pause and think about the future
Create your own traditions. Don’t be afraid to leave your own legacy by coming up with your own twist of something from your family or something completely new. One day your kids and grandkids will say, “Mom used to always say/do/bake/make _______________” and they will feel connected to you.
What do you want them to say when they think of you?
How do you celebrate the New Year with your friends and family?
May 2018 bring you and yours treasures beyond measure.
Happy Travels,
Natalie, The Educational Tourist
i love this post
I dont believe we have any “traditional” New Years eve rituals in India (and that’s probably because the Hindu religion has a different calendar (and the traditional new year is different for most states/ regions or cultures) usually signified by a beginning of harvest festival of some sort!
That is really interesting to know! Thanks for sharing.
Good uplifting post for 2017.
The New Year’s traditions in Belgium sound so charming – I think kids should do this all over the world!
I never really saw the value in new years resolutions, but traditions certainly have a place in society and are a great way to keep connected to the past.
I love NYE and NY Day and I love all the traditions that go with them – I am not a resolution person but I love the traditions of many countries that have fun celebrations around the world.
I love to learn about different traditions
I like the idea of having traditions….there is so much to learn about people from their traditions. However, when it comes to New Year, I’m not much of a traditions person. The turn of the year is an opportunity to turn a new page, regardless of traditions.
Interesting to learn about such traditions. We don’t have anything like that as an Australian. Great way to understand more about other cultures.
My friends and I used to celebrate New Years with a bunch of traditions that take place throughout the world, like eating grapes at midnight, jumping off a chair and throwing a bucket of water out the window. It’s fun and unique.
How fun! Where did jumping off the chair and throwing a bucket of water out of the window come from?
What an interesting way to spend the New Years! Sticking to traditions was a really good thought instead of drinking and partying which is what most people do these days. Because the true essence of Christmas and New year comes out when you spend a quality time with your near and dear ones.
thanks for sharing
amazing post and happy new years to all thanks for sharing
grea post thanks
Wow, Some awesome traditions i got to learn
happy new year everyone
Wishing all of you a very Happy New Year 2018. Get latest picture, images, quotes, messages and much more here –
thanx for sharing
nice post…thanks for sharing