New Year's Day Superstitions

 The following is a re-post from a few years ago.

 New Year's Day Superstitions

I thought I'd better get this post out today - you know just in case you want to do or not do any of these things.  (just kidding folks)


New Year's Day is full of superstitions. Many differ, depending on what part of the country you live in.

Now for us, you just have to eat cabbage on New Year's Day. There's just no getting around it. The stores in our area always put cabbage on sale this time of year. I've already bought me a big head of it. When I was growing up, Mom used to put a silver coin in it (usually a dime) and the one who spooned it out with their helping was sure to come into money that year. I really think it was just a way to get us kids to eat cabbage, though. We all wanted that dime!

Here is a link to how my husband cooks our cabbage. 

And, as far as my grandma went, you had to be a male or you weren't entering her house first on New Year's Day! They said she had her son who lived next door come to her house bright and early. I guess it didn't hurt that he was also tall, dark haired, and handsome, which is another superstition people had about the first footer.

There are lots of superstitions I found on the internet. Some of the more prevalent ones were:

Wear new clothes. This would mean receiving new garments throughout the coming year.
Avoid crying if you don't want to continue the pattern throughout the new year.
Be nice and refrain from using foul language.
Don't let money leave the house. Don't pay bills or loan money on New Year's Day. Or for that matter don't even take out the garbage or shake out a rug! This will ensure that nothing goes out of the home during the new year. Some soften this rule by saying it is okay to remove things if something is brought in first.
At midnight, all the doors must be opened to let the old year escape.
Make sure your wallets, purses and cupboards are well stocked on New Year's Day and it will bring prosperity.
Do not do the laundry on New Year's Day! It will 'wash away' or lead to a death in the family.
Pay your bills or loans before the New Year so you won't have any debt left for the New Year.
Make as much noise as possible at Midnight - you are scaring away evil spirits. Evil spirits hate loud noises, this is also why church bells are rung on wedding days.
Babies born on this day will have luck on their side.
 If a girl looks out her bedroom window upon rising and sees a man walking outside, it is said she will be married before the year is out.
And, be sure to kiss at midnight! This will ensure that those affections will continue throughout the following year.

So there you have it. Be sure and pay all your bills today, go shopping and stock up on groceries, do your laundry, put money in everyone's wallet or purse(even if it's just a few pennies), kiss the one you love at midnight, and then proceed to make a lot of noise!
Then on New Year's Day be sure and wear new clothing you received for Christmas, be nice and polite, make sure a man comes into your house first, then proceed to make a big pot of cabbage for dinner!

That shouldn't be too much to remember.
Do you have any more to add to my list?

Happy New Year!

Excerpt from my Book - Fun Through the Seasons

For you, your children or your grand-children. Below is a small excerpt from the December Chapter of my book, Fun Through the Seasons

Hope you enjoy it and maybe do some of the activities listed below with your family. 

 

Celebrate an Old-Fashioned Christmas

What Christmas carol is a favorite of parents?

Silent Night!

December brings with it the first day of winter and Christmas. Soon you will be watching for the first snowflakes of the season and getting together with your family and friends.

Celebrate an old-fashioned Christmas with all its sights, sounds and smells.

Add some old-fashioned Christmas sights to your house by popping popcorn and making strands to string on your Christmas tree. Hang cookie cutters on your tree, string them across your mantle or use them as napkin rings.

Sprinkle powdered sugar on large pinecones and make a small grouping of ‘snow covered pinecone trees’ to set on a placemat and put it in the middle of your kitchen table.

            

Add some old-fashioned Christmas sounds to your house by hanging jingle bells on your front door and playing Christmas music on your radio or CD player. Light your fireplace and listen to the crackling of the warm fire on a frosty morning. Sing in a choir and listen for Santa calling, “Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.”

 

Add some old-fashioned Christmas smells to your house by baking sugar cookies and spicy pies, lighting cinnamon scented candles, stirring your hot cocoa with peppermint sticks, making cinnamon dough ornaments to hang on your tree and, of course, putting up a piney smelling Christmas tree.

 

Charles Schulz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip, said, “Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.”

You can visit a neighbor and present them with a plate of cookies or read a Christmas story to a younger family member or friend. Some good holiday books are:

Berenstain Bears Old Fashioned Christmas, The Polar Express, The Night Before Christmas, The Berenstain Bears and the Joy of Giving, God Gave us Christmas, A Christmas Carol, Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus, Olivia Helps With Christmas, Snowmen at Christmas and Bear Stays up for Christmas.

The spirit of Christmas lives in your heart. Give the gift of love and friendship. Make homemade gifts; share your voice by going caroling in your neighborhood. Have a family fun night each week. Pop popcorn and watch a Christmas movie.

But, most of all, remember what Dr. Seuss said in The Grinch That Stole Christmas. He puzzled three hours till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before, “Maybe Christmas,” he thought…“doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps …means a little bit more!”

And what happened, then? Well, in Whoville they say – that the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day!

This is also the time of year we make Christmas decorations and write poems about the season.

Gather your pencils and paper and write down what you like and do not like about December. Write down rhyming words and words that start with the same letter. Here are some words that come to my mind:

Icicles and shiny bicycles, white snow and warm cocoa, skates and skis, frozen ponds and frozen toes, slushy ice and Christmas mice, mittens and boots and Santa Claus suits, frigid winds and fat snowmen, sledding and sliding, red birds and red cheeks and sniffles and sneezes.

M & M Icicles

What do elves learn in school?

The elf-abet!

Tie M & M icicles on the outside of presents for decoration or place them in a pretty bowl for people to eat.

For each icicle, cut a piece of clear plastic wrap approximately 3 inches wide and 6 inches long. Place red and green M & M’s all in a row down the middle of the plastic wrap. Fold over the plastic on both sides and tie the ends with a thin colorful ribbon.