Being a parent means you can’t always get to the fireworks for NYE, but hey, that’s cool, because the party can come home with a TV and Netflix.
New Years isn’t the same if you’re a parent of a little one. Instead of going out with friends or ringing the new year in with a big party, you might have to stay home and count the timer down at a different time to the typical seconds to midnight.
Depending on how old your little person is, times can vary. If they’re old enough for the 9pm fireworks, “midnight” comes a little earlier, and the massive new year fireworks make the new year arrive a few hours before just so they can join in.
But if you have kids who are still too small for that and have to be put to bed even earlier, you need a Plan C.
If you happen to have a Netflix account — and really, who doesn’t these days? — the kids part of the service may have you saved with a variety of kids programming that will even feature countdowns.
You’ll have a choice of nine shows each with a ten second countdown for each, giving you a countdown to the new year with the likes of King Julien, Trollhunters, Skylanders, or a bunch of other titles your kids probably know by heart and you’ve forgotten the names of.
Netflix has put them in the kids section under a 2018 icon, and you can find any of them whenever, helping your kids to bring in the new year with the video of your choice (though it’s pretty much the choice of your kids).
Handy tip: tell them it’s almost midnight when it’s almost time to go to bed, load the video, and watch the smiles. And then send them to bed, so you can ring in the new year later on with a glass of bubbly while the little ones sleep.
