Partying Priorities and Puzzle Pieces

               Never a hard-partying kind of girl, I look to New Year’s Eve with a sobering recollection of my first New Year’s Eve as a parent. 

               As young adults, couples greeted the New Year in each other’s homes, having dinner, eating chips and dips, sipping adult beverages, and watching the ball drop at earlier and earlier hours. Add a baby or two to this mix of partying and parenting and the story of the Last Whoopty-Do New Year's Eve springs to mind.

           

David was right at four months old when we received one of those fantabulous invitations for a New Year’s Eve. It was a glittery event complete with Dinner, Dancing, an Open Bar, and Breakfast at the Pinnacle Club (Top of the 100) in Memphis. Of course, we said, “YES!” and plans were underway. The most critical component of the plan: a baby-sitter.

            Talk about friends. Our next door neighbors volunteered for David to spend the night at their home. After all, they had a couple of young children who would be sleeping away and they did not plan on going out on the town, anyway. Again, we said, “YES!”

            What a trip! The “in crowd” boogied and gyrated around the dance floor in the most current form of group line dancing and slow dancing, all to the music of a live band. The night flew by. We called our neighbors and David was sleeping like…well, a baby. “Remember,” we said, “if he wakes up, don’t turn on a light, don’t speak to him, just give him the extra pacifier, and he’ll go back to sleep.”

            The last of the real party-goers, we drove home sometime after the midnight celebration and breakfast, an early hour on New Year’s Day. We fell into bed about 2 AM. At 3 AM, the phone rang and we heard, “WAAAHAAHHAAA!” in the background. “NO!” we mimed with a silent scream.

This baby wanted his mommy. In the driveway, David was passed over to welcome the New Year in his own home. He was wide awake and smiling that smile I’ve never been able to refuse. He did not go back to sleep until the Tournament of Roses Parade was winding through Pasadena.

            I was bleary-eyed and in one heck of a cranky mood. It was the last time we said, “YES!” to a New Year’s Eve Late Night Party ‘til You Drop Event. Partying on New Year’s Eve became a dinner out with kids completed by the highlight of the evening: a luscious dessert, most likely laced with double chocolate, whipped cream, and a cherry on top.

New Year’s Eve Party Priorities do change. Tonight, David is beyond a pacifier and my husband and I are fitting the final pieces into a puzzle Richard gave him and we all started on Christmas Day. Talk about a night of togetherness. It makes for a much happier Black-eyed Peas kind of morning.