Wee ones and wee hours are a bad mix

RALEIGH -- Sometimes kids and parents are both worn out by the actual tick of midnight on New Year's Eve.

Babies, for instance, like to get up early, Dec. 31 or no Dec.31. That means at least one parent was likely up and around today by 6 a.m.

OK, it was Mom.

A New Year's Eve party or on-the-town event that by definition lasts until at least midnight has considerably less appeal under those circumstances. Folks without kids, try putting on your dancing shoes after 14 hours of tending ababy, trailing a toddler or arguing with teens.

Thus, the popularity of joyous, family-friendly celebrations - such as downtown Raleigh's early acorn drop or Henderson's drive-in movie fest - that don't call for NoDoz.

Luckily, there are plenty of ways to ring in 2010 before exhaustion sets in.

A few suggestions:

Hit the traditional 7 p.m. acorn drop at downtown Raleigh's First Night celebration, which will make its initial appearance in the new City Plaza tonight. The indie-rockin'Annuals will play before the grown-up acorn drop at midnight, also on the high-tech, $15 million plaza on Fayetteville Street designed as place for civic celebration.

"It kind of gives us a new feel to everything," First Night spokeswoman Jackie Smith said. "With the light towers and with the ice rink, it really is a beautiful setting."

The early descent of Raleigh's iconic acorn can serve as a final activity for people with children - along with those who want to hit the road before the once-a-year drinkers start driving. It can also cap an afternoon of kid-friendly downtown activities.

The Celebration Tent, onBicentennial Plaza, allows children and others to customize their First Night costumes beginning at 2 p.m., the same time that the state Museum of Natural Sciences starts introducing festival-goers to a different North Carolina animal each hour until 8 p.m.

Celebrate early and late. Julie Dion, a North Carolina-born mother of three who does publicity out of Florida for the family attraction Adventure Landing, says some couples have a double dip in mind when singing "Auld Lang Syne" with the kids at midday. That way, the family fun can precede a stop at the sitter or Grandma's, then a trip to a party or club.

"Parents that want to go out can be guilt-free and still celebrate on their own," Dion said.

Adventure Landing, on Capital Boulevard in North Raleigh, kicks off its New Year's Eve countdown at noon today, dropping prize-filled balloons toward in age-specific groups.

The Cardinal Club in downtown Raleigh has a family buffet starting at 11:30 a.m.

Celebrate another time zone's New Year. For example, at 11 a.m. today, it will be midnight in Singapore. At 6 p.m. today, you can ring in the New Year with the Parisians.

Tell your kids that being home at midnight is for their own good. Viennese doctors studied New Year's Eve fireworks injuries and found that youngsters were much more likely to sustain significant eye damage than their elders during the night's festivities.

Party like it's 1949. Up the road in Henderson, the 60-year-old Raleigh Road Outdoor Theatre is offering a New Year's Eve bash with the new Chipmunks movie, a Disney feature and a big-screen broadcast of the First Night festivities in Raleigh. The first movie at the drive-in starts at 8:30 p.m. and a 7-foot box of popcorn will make its descent at midnight.