Day 341
One of our favorite forms of entertainment is watching a movie. During the winter season, we have a healthy collection of holiday favorites. Even when the kids get exasperated when the same movie is chosen by one of their siblings, popcorn and hot cocoa usually smooth over any crankiness.
The Dargatz family loves a good movie. Selecting one can sometimes get contentious. I’ve tried to get my kids interested in some of my favorites, usually to moderate levels of success. We try to take turns picking movies. Sometimes, behavior or forgetfulness get in the way of the rotation, but more often than not, it doesn't matter. It won't matter because even though the streaming world, cable television, and a large collection of DVD’s is available, only a handful of movies make the cut.
While this is the method for movie selection throughout the year, the holidays bring in a whole new level of repetition.
Personally, I have a few holiday favorites that have stuck with me throughout my entire life. However, watching the holidays through the eyes of my three children has opened my own eyes to some movies I ignored for quite some time. For example, I could watch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation any time of year. While it makes me jolly, it isn't necessarily the most kid-friendly so I haven't watched it with all of them quite yet. Instead, they have chosen some other favorites. If my oldest could pick the movie, she’d skip the holiday collection altogether and focus solely on Harry Potter movies. Our middle child offers a little more variety but loves Elf and Home Alone. If it were up to our youngest, he would watch three holiday movies on repeat: The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, The Polar Express, and a favorite of mine I feel is criminally underrated, The Nightmare before Christmas. Because my wife is a third-shifter, we often watch these flicks without her but are sure to include her when she is home for the night. Even when the holidays end, the repetition of holiday movie requests continues. When we aren't adventuring outside, the coziness of a winter movie always brings us back to the holiday movies.
