If you're like me, a parent of a school-going child, New Year's celebrations will probably be something like looking out the window into a courtyard of people who are having a blast in a garden party while you have to sit in the house and study for an exam.
This year, I'm feeling the pressure more than I did last year because my eldest daughter is set to join primary school. Like my colleague says, it's pretty much like taking a child to Form 1. New uniforms, new books, new shoes and a new routine.
It feels like an exam because you sort of know what you're in for but you're not quite sure. You know you probably haven't prepared enough. You know you probably chose to revise the wrong chapter the night before the exam.
You know that you probably should have visited more uniform shops to compare prices but because you ran out of time, you opted for convenience. You know that come January 9, the beginning of that notorious second week of the year when 'njaa' starts to woo 'nuary' and you know they will be newlyweds before the end of the week.
So Dora the Explorer and Ben 10 on those fancy pencil pouches you bought your kids start staring at you. That extra 200 bob could have come in handy around this time. It could have fueled your jalopy for an extra trip so you could make it to the 7am meeting your boss called yesterday without having to line up for an Indima-nje Sacco matatu at the bus stop while cursing the surprise January rain.
But then again, life is too short to have regrets about fancy pencil pouches and a wet head of hair. Njaanuary imefika. Ni sawa tu. That is why we have sukuma wiki. Life goes on. There's nothing wrong with eating 'skums'.