What are you doing New Year's Eve?

It's almost that time of the year again;  the time when we say goodbye to one year and welcome in the next. Today, I started my families rituals or I guess I should say traditions. I thought I might share them with you.

Clean: It's bad luck if you enter the New Year with a dirty house so, I rented a carpet cleaner and cleaned all of the carpet throughout my house. Tomorrow I will do a more deep cleaning and start to get rid of the things that I just don't need or use anymore.

Wash Clothes: Since washing clothes on New Year day is said to bring death to the family; I make sure all of our clothes and bed linens are washed before New Years day.



Find A Man To Walk Through The House At Midnight: It is bad luck for a woman to be the first person in the house on New Years.  At midnight, you have to have a male with dark hair walk through your house. My mom used to say the man was supposed to walk in the front door and out the back door. If you don't have a back door, let him walk down your hall and back out. *If he's fine, you might want to stop off in a few room along the way...just to make sure the good luck is spread around LOL!


The Wash Cloth For Luck: My Great, Great grandmother (Little Momma) used to hang wash cloths on the line at Midnight and would bring them back in before the sun set on New Years Day! Now this is one I had never heard of. My mom just came into the room when she heard what I was writing and told me her grand mother used to have her and my aunt run out to the line to bring the wash clothes in. She called my aunt in South Carolina who was able to verify this bit of information.  This year will be the first time we do this tradition.

Midnight Mass: Some might recognize this as "watch night" church service. This tradition, for African Americans, is symbolic of the night before the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation on 01/01/1863 in which the slaves were freed. We go to church on this night to pray that god watches over us and keeps our family blessedly covered throughout the year. Really, a lot of people do this. It's not just a black tradition. Normally, I say a prayer, even if I can't or don't go to a service on New Years eve. It just seems right to ask for Gods blessings for the New Years.

Auld Lang Syne/Toast: We have to sing Auld Lang Syne and toast in the New Year with Champagne or Sparkling wine.  Something bubbly is always good. If you're smart, you will share a glass or two with the guy who walked through the house!



Eat:  We will be having collard greens, black eye'd peas and corm bread on New Years Day. Most people know the significance of this tradition but, if you are not from the south, or, are not from the US, I will explain. The collards represent US money, which is green, the peas are brown which represents pennies, and the cornbread represents gold . It all has financial implications so this is a MUST if you want to have financial abundance in the new year!




And that's what we do in my family. So, tell me,  What are your New Years traditions?  Do you see anything on my list that you also do? leave me a comment and let me know.

Oh Yeah, here is one of my favorite New Years songs:  Nancy Wilson "What Are You Doing New Years Eve"