In the South they visit friends and eat Hoppin' Johns on January 1st . In New York on New Year's Day we try to get out of the house with an activity that parents can enjoy as much as the kids. Lots of things are closed, but there's still lots of fun stuff to do. Here are some ideas of what to do with kids in New York on New Year's Day 2009.

What will be open on New Year's Day in NYC:

Yesterday I posted my Top 5 New York Websites. Besides browsing hundreds of websites, I also have a very full in box and subscribe to dozens of email newsletters that keep me informed on events and activities going on in the New york City.

I skim the best kid event newsletters looking for unique tidbits, but many of the email newsletters I read the most are not kid-centric. I like to read adult event newsletters to find unusual activities that are good for the whole family in addition to the regular kid stuff to do.

Here are the top 5 daily and weekly New York email newsletters that I check in with the most:

New York City is always changing and there just seems to be more and more great things to do for kids and families every year. In 2008 we saw the opening and reopening of some terrific family museums and kid friendly eateries.

Here are our top NYC openings for kids and families in 2008:

People are always asking me how I ca n possibly stay up to date with so many different events that things to do in New York. The short answer is that I read A LOT. I have well over 200 websites in my RSS reader (if you don't know what an RSS reader is learn about it here. It's a great way to keep up to date on lots of sites without having to visit them all each day) and I like to skim through them all to find out about the little gems that I can share with you.

I thought for this end of year week it would be appropriate to share some of my top 5 lists for 2008, starting with the top 5 websites I enjoy reading to keep up to date with everything NYC.

Big Apple Circus

This Holiday Season there's a particularly good crop of Holiday shows that every family can enjoy. Seeing a show can add that extra sparkle to your holidays. Here's a round-up of the best Holiday Shows:

Tis the weekend to get ready...last minute Holiday shopping and wrapping must be done, plus cooking and cleaning or packing and panicking, depending on your plans. You may not have time to be running around the city this weekend, or maybe a little division of labor is in order and one parent will take the tots to some of these free events while the other takes a nap...uh, I mean works really hard on all that stuff.

The winter weather is finally catching up to us. As I write this we are currently anticipating 3-5 inches of snow on Friday and I'm scrambling to make alternative arrangements for the ice skating birthday party my daughter has planned.

But the good news is we just posted our Indoor Activity Guide with over 45 articles listing free places to play, story times all over the city, drop-in play spaces, mommy and me classes, off-the-beaten track museums and free museum programs, and even some crafts and activity ideas to help fill those days when you do stay home. This guide will be a permanent feature on the site and be updated with new activities throughout the year, so you can check back any time, whether it's too cold, too hot, or too wet to play outside.  

So, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...