Ah, New Year’s Eve. It really is a time for the young, but not too young. While the night is made for twenty-somethings to rock it out, the preschool set is often left completely out. It’s hard to be tucked in at 8 o’clock when all of the focus is on the magic of midnight.

That’s why we were beyond delighted when our reader, Sandra Tuckman, shared one of her family traditions with us.

The real magic is how stinking easy it is. The Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy should take notes.

1. Show your precious snowflakes a plate of Cheerios.
2. Let them sprinkle milk and/or Magic Dust of choice on the little Os.
3. Explain to your kids they have to be asleep waaaaayyy before midnight for the magic to happen.
4. Enjoy a quiet glass of champagne with your sweetie at midnight . . . or 10 PM. Whatever.
5. Remember to replace the Cheerios with doughnuts!
6. Behold their delighted faces in the morning.

So simple! But remember to match the number of Cheerios to the number of doughnuts. Makes more sense that way  . . . like a bunny delivering eggs or a fairy collecting teeth.

Now you can up your game if it all feels too simple. Remember the Magic Dust we mentioned? It allows all sorts of room for creativity.

• Sprinkle cocoa for chocolate doughnuts.
• Sprinkle powdered sugar for powdered doughnuts.
• Sprinkle cinnamon for, you guessed it, cinnamon doughnuts.
• Use sprinkles over the Cheerios, then do the same for the doughnuts.
• If you really want to impress Pinterest, you could dip the Cheerios in icing and sprinkles for frosted doughnuts.

PLEASE do this and report back on how it works!

Oh, and have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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Check out our books, “I Just Want to Be Alone” and “You Have Lipstick on Your Teeth.”