It is the question we all asked our parents once. “Can we stay up and watch the ball drop?” Maybe you were asked this question by your children this year. Luckily my two are too young to ask, yet.

This New Year’s Eve, I felt more my “age” than ever. I watched a cartoon NYE count down on Netflix at 6p with my two little ones. In fact, we watched it 5 times through. My toddler loved it so much and it was a special occasion, after all.

There was the usual bedtime fuss. The chaos included wrangling an infant into his sleep and play. He cannot stand to sit still enough to get one limb into his pajamas, much less all four in and zipped up. Then there was the toddler. His new favorite word is “no.” The process started with a defiant, “no, I don’t want my pajamas on.” Then an upset, “no, I don’t want to sleep without my pajamas.” With a final desperate cry of “help put on my pajamas.”

Once the boys were tucked in, the nightly cleaning process began. I rocked out to some forgotten late 90’s jams – The Cardigans, Third Eye Blind, Alanis Morissette. Feeling extra motivated, I scrubbed and deep cleaned the oven range top.

With a sense of accomplishment, I sat down to tinker with blog formatting. I was so “enrapt” in reading up on brand marketing that I forgot to turn on the television for the NYE countdown.

I resolved to go to bed when I realized the midnight celebration had already come and gone. For a moment I thought about how the evening’s events reflected my age. I mused on past NYEs. Then I was struck with how thankful I was to be content and present in this moment of life’s journey. Glad for the experiences of 2015 and looking forward to the new adventures in 2016.

Wishing you all the best in the adventures if the year to come. Happy New Year!

What did you do this New Year’s Eve? How will you celebrate the New Year?