So, who will be going out on New Year's Eve to celebrate? Not me! It hasn't been me for nearly six years, which by some strange coincidence, coincides with when we first became parents…
Although I can't really go out and ring in 2015 with abandonment, I am not sure I would, even if I could. NYE is possibly one of the most pressure-laden nights out ever invented. First there is the decision of where and how to spend it out of all the many venues promising 'the best night of the year'. Then there is the inflated cost of it all; even if you are going to the same venue you have frequented every weekend for the whole of the year, you are suddenly paying through the nose for your usual bar stool. And finally, there is the work-up of how it is going to be 'mega, epic, legendary, amazing' etc, only to find that nine times out of ten, it is actually just the same as every other night out you have enjoyed – or endured – throughout the course of the year.
NYE is also the universal cut-off for seasonal gluttony! Everyone goes a little crazy with the calories, not worrying too much, as from January first, it will all end and good habits will be reinstated – or started. As such, December 31 is your one last, final, never-to-be-had-again chance to really push the calorie counter over the red before the 'fresh start'. In reality, you will probably consume too many calories again by the first weekend of January, thus making NYE's gluttony nothing but a con that you fall for every year.
When I was a teenager/young adult, I did have some memorable NYE nights out in Cyprus and London, and did indeed pay (gladly) through the nose for the pleasure of them, although all nights out were good back then, so it was probably just more expensive, rather than actually being better. Nonetheless, the memories are happily stored in my photo albums, but when I look at that young me, I wish I could jump into the photos and tell her to stop partying and start stocking up on some sleep, and warn her that motherhood would ensure that she could never stay up past 9pm again, let alone watch the sun rise.
Actually, it would be a lie to say that every NYE since becoming a parent have meant an early night from exhaustion and sleeping through the midnight clock chimes… some of them I have been awake for… either sat at the cot side of a screaming baby that will not go to sleep, or driving one around to get them to sleep. A couple of years back, as the fireworks could be heard in the distance with the faint sound of music and laughter, hubby and I were dealing with one or both of our non-sleepers when our bleary eyes met across the room. It was a tragic and poetic moment worthy of an 'Eastenders' episode ending drumbeat. For those who are not familiar with the English television series, it is full of miserable people leading depressing and overly-dramatic lives, with each episode ending at a particularly revealing or tragic part, signalled by a single drum, beating out the start of the theme tune.
If you are going out, I hope you have a wonderful time, and I will do what I do every January first; live vicariously through all the photographs of other people's nights out that are plastered all over the social media networks. So, have a good one for me. Cheers!
First appeared in The Cyprus Weekly 25/12/14
