9PM is the New Midnight! (Well, if you're still in gradeschool, that is...)

My parents had what was probably the least exciting New Year’s Eve ritual of all time. They would stay up until midnight sitting in their usual spots in the living room, watching TV and reading the paper, as they did pretty much every night from 1980-ish to 2010-ish. Come midnight my mom would make a fresh cup of tea. By 12:30, at the lastest, they would be in bed. Some years, my mom confided, they didn’t even make it until midnight. Yawn. So much excitement.

Over the years my husband and I have done various things for New Year’s, ranging from throwing a rollicking party in my first apartment, to attending ticketed events at a favourite bar. Eventually we settled on what has become a yearly event, our Gaming in the New Year party, where we invite dozens of local gamers to our home, put out tons of snacks, order in pizza and play board games until the wee hours of the morning (with varying amounts of adult beverages thrown in).

Once the kids arrived on the scene my parents stepped in and watched them for us on New Year’s Eve. They would take the girls for a sleepover, and not bring them back until late in the day on January 1st. Apparently tucking in a grandchild or two didn’t interfere with the yearly tea-at-midnight ritual. Then my dad passed away and my mom got a social life. Lovely for her, but not so great when it comes to that whole “no longer readily available to watch my kids” thing.

So last year for the first time we had the kids with us for New Year’s. And to be honest, I wasn’t sure what to do. Should we just go ahead and have people over? Or would we not host a party this year because my mom was busy and couldn’t watch the kids? In the end, with some trepidation, we decided to go ahead and still throw a party. I did worry a bit about keeping the volume down to a reasonable level once the girls where in bed, and I was disappointed that I didn’t get to indulge in a beer or four, as I refuse to drink when I am “on duty” as mom, but overall things went smoothly, and we’ll be doing it again this year.

One of the things that helped with including the kids in last year’s New Year’s celebration was giving them an exciting count down to head off to bed with. With a little help from Netflix that countdown took place not at midnight, but rather at around 8:55. After pizza, snacks, video games, visiting with guests and general party excitement the kids settled down in front of the TV to watch King Julien ring in the New Year, and then went off to bed with nary a fuss.

This year Netflix is offering six different New Year’s Eve countdown shows to help you and your little ones celebrate the most famous ten seconds of the year, on demand, at whatever time you chose. Each show is only a few minutes long (they range from a minute and a half to just over three minutes), leaving bedtime stalling to a minimum. Just type “New Years Eve” into the Netflix search box and your countdown options will pop up.

The eight year old already asked me if we could count down with King Julien again like we did last year. I let her know that there are six different countdowns to choose from this year and my already excited kid just about exploded. I told her that my vote was with Inspector Gadget and she said she didn’t know who that was. What? How has my kid not seen Inspector Gadget? Ack! Travesty. Time to hit the Netflix! Luckily I have a day or two to indoctrinate her before the big countdown.

I suspect the biggest problem I will have come New Year’s Eve is getting my girls to agree on which countdown to watch. Maybe we’ll go crazy and watch two. Care Bears & Cousins, Inspector Gadget, Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show, Project MC2, All Hail King Julien or Puffin Rock? Which Netflix original series will you be counting down to 2016 with?

Disclosure: I am a member of the Netflix #StreamTeam, and as such I will be providing thoughts and suggestions about what’s currently showing on Netflix. As always my words and opinions are my own.

Comments

Astrogal says
December 31, 2015 at 2:01 pm
We are in our 30s and have always had a New Year's Eve like your parents lol…just sitting at home watching TV, waiting until midnight to watch the ball drop in Times Square and then going to bed. My daughter stayed up until midnight for the very first time last year, when she was 8-1/2. She intends to do so again tonight and I imagine will want to for the rest of her life! I thought 8 was too young to stay up till midnight but it's just once a year for her and I was surprised she was able to make it through just fine. She unfortunately didn't wake up much later the next morning though lol

		Hi, I'm Deanna, a Canadian mom with two young girls, who loves to share our adventures through the everyday.
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