What Happened at Midnight?

For New Year’s Eve, we decided to watch the appropriately named Tomorrowland on DVD – the boys’ favorite movie. It was a special “movie night” for the family, and a calm, quiet time for me.

Then, for the first time, both boys were allowed to stay up until after midnight. Dylan’s an old pro by now, since he’s stayed up till midnight nearly every night since winter break started, but it was Shane’s first time. Last year, Shane went to bed (as usual) and we woke him up to watch the ball drop on TV. He was awake for a few minutes, then went right back to bed.

But ushering in 2016 was different.

At 9:00 – the time Shane usually gets ready for bed – Tomorrowland was over and the ball-drop event was on TV. Dylan disappeared; Bill disappeared. I was ready for bed.

“So you’re just going to sit here for three hours and wait for the ball to drop?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “I’m going to do other things while it’s on.”

Then Shane went upstairs to gather supplies. He came downstairs with his new cell phone, some books, pencils and a writing tablet. I hopped on the computer for half an hour, then heard a song I like on TV – so I rushed back in to watch Elle King sing on the New Year’s Eve show.

“What are you doing now, Shane?” I asked.

“Abstract drawing,” he said. And he showed me some abstract art.

Half an hour later I wished him a happy new year and went to bed. Bill, Dylan and Shane all watched the ball drop together. I was zonked out shortly after 11:00 – but awakened when the power blipped (off and on) at – I assume – midnight.

I lay awake for an hour, trying to get back to sleep. By the time I did, everyone else was asleep, too. I could tell by the silence.

In the morning, I asked Shane about the ball drop. “So what happened at midnight? What did you do?”

“We all said, ‘yay!'” he told me. “Then we went outside and did some sparklers. And then we went to bed.”

“What time did you go to sleep?” I asked.

“About 12:15,” he said.

Apparently the celebration was rather short.

But I bet it’s one he remembers for his whole life.

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