Let the countdown to bedtime begin!
Clever parents have come up with a New Year’s Eve hack that lets kids take part in the festivities in 2025 without staying up too late.
“Just your reminder that you can watch fake countdown to the new year on Netflix with the kids and be in bed by 8pm,” one mom wrote on TikTok.
Meanwhile, another showed himself changing the clocks from 8:00 PM to 11:59 PM to simulate the clock hitting 12 and flashing a clip of an earlier ball drop.
“Set your clocks forward to 11:59 so the kids think the ball is about to drop,” one parent wrote on TikTok while flashing last year’s Times Square footage.
“They’ll never know and they’ll be in bed by 8pm!”
However, one group of parents threw an entire party in the living room for their children – complete with cake, balloons, hats and noisemakers – at 6.30pm while a countdown played on the TV.
“If you want to celebrate NYE with your kids but be in bed watching Netflix until 9pm then try this,” they captioned the video. “This was actually the best New Year’s Eve party we could have ever asked for and it all happened before 7.30pm”
While the hack has been promoted by parents on social media for years, viewers still hailed it as “brilliant”.
“I did this last year for everyone I know with kids; we saw the ball drop at 6, all the clocks were changed, food was eaten and everyone left by 8,” one parent wrote in the comments.
“I’m still mad at my parents for doing this to me,” quipped another whose caregivers were ahead of their time.
One mom said it was a great way to “enjoy the festivities together and get the little ones to bed at a reasonable hour” on Instagram.
“It’s the perfect way to make new memories while keeping the evening enjoyable for everyone — it’s a win-win,” she wrote.
“When my kids were little, I would change the clock on the microwave by a few hours and have them check the time,” one person wrote in an old Reddit post. “The little brats have been partying at 10pm for years and never had a clue.”
However, not all children are so easily fooled.
“We got away with this last year by just playing the countdown YouTube stream live across the globe,” said one Redditor. “We chose one as ‘ours’ when we were ready for them to go to bed.
“They are not buying it this year…”
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Image Source : nypost.com