We made it through Christmas, mamas! Let’s give ourselves and everyone who helped make our kids’ holidays special a pat on the back.
That is no small feat, making Christmas magic for little ones, but it is always worth it.
Now, we get to move onto the next celebration of New Year’s Eve. I remember growing up and celebrating with my parents and grandparents. We would get Welch’s Sparkling Grape Juice and put it in fancy little glasses like we were drinking champagne.
We would play games and watch movies until as late as we could. Once we were a little bit older and could make it to midnight, we would take pots and pans on the porch and bang them like drums, ringing in the new year.
But, how can we ring in 2024 in my household with a 5-year-old and a 1-year-old?
I have seen great things on TikTok and Pinterest where parents set up full-blown New Year’s celebrations, but have “midnight” at like 8 p.m. instead. I love this idea! We have never done it before, since my kiddos were too young to really know what the celebration even was, but we are thinking about doing it this year.
We love the idea of having Welch’s Sparkling Grape Juice, balloons, games and movies with our little ones. We can even get little party hats and noisemakers for our “midnight” celebration.
I researched to see if there was a kid’s version of the New Year’s Eve ball dropping and I found a couple options. My household is a big PBS Kids place and that channel has actually offered a 10-minute New Year’s Eve Countdown in the past.
I hope they do it again this year, but if not, I did find it on YouTube from last year. So, that is a great option. There was also a Netflix countdown for kids who are a little older. I will definitely incorporate that into our celebration.
Another option is to check in your town to see if there are any kids’ activities or parties being hosted to celebrate the new year. Many areas have started doing a Happy Noon Year, where it is a New Year’s celebration with the ball dropping at noon for the kids instead of midnight.
No matter how you choose to ring in the new year with your family, I hope you have a safe and happy time doing it.
Happy New Year everyone!
ANN BURNS is a Morgantown native, raising two young children with her husband, Drake. She writes weekly columns for The Dominion Post. Contact her at Columns@DominionPost.com.
