My husband is the type of guy who holds the door open for people at the mall or helps an elderly person up the stairs or lets someone with one item go in front of his two shopping carts full of stuff. He’s very polite, usually. But all this changes on New Years Day.
One of the first things we do as a family on New Years Day is visit my in-laws. When we arrive my husband dashes in front of everyone on the walkway to get to the door first. Not to open it for us, but to make sure he’s the first one through the door. It seems there’s a superstition my mother-in-law believes that the first person to cross her threshold, the first footer or ‘lucky bird’, can influence the entire next year. And if you want it to be a lucky year that person needs to be a dark haired man. A blond or red-haired person is bad luck and a woman? Well, let’s just say historically people were encouraged to deter woman from crossing the threshold first, even if it meant using a gun (I’m not kidding). Thank goodness my mother-in-law likes me.
So every New Year’s Day my husband is the first one invited into my mother-in-laws house before anyone else. Thank goodness New Year’s is only one day. Are there any New Year superstitions you or your family believe in?
Only a dark haired man need to apply
