My eldest daughter is now 33. I have very found memories of renting a vhs machine and videos on Friday nights so we could watch movies together. The machines were big and heavy. Now here we are 30 years later with VHS a dinosaur, DVD'S Blue Ray- watching movies on satellite or the computer. The speed of change!
Our routine is SIMPLE. I make pizza- the kids swear it is the very best around! I have had many years to perfect it. I will put the recipe in a separate post. When my eldest daughter was young, we ordered pizza of course! It was a big treat. Greco's Pizza in North Bay, ON, Canada has the very best pizza around. http://www.grecospizza.ca/
My house is a 100 years old. The living room is in literally, the heart centre of our home.. We have a very cool couch that was constructed in the 1960's. It is a semi circle sectional with a big round coffee table that has a removable cushion. It is the perfect couch for our living room and for Movie Night because of its long semi circular shape. The Power of a circle!
While I am making the pizza in the kitchen off of the living room, the kids get into their pj's; bring down pillows/blankets and claim a spot on the couch. Whoever's turn it is to 'Set the Table', lays out the table cloth on the round stool (minus the cushion), sets out the napkins and pours out the refreshments. (Which stay safely in the kitchen!) The lights are dimmed, curtains closed. After some discussion, and sometimes arguments over who gets to pick the movie, Movie Night begins.
After our pizza and desert, we settle comfortably in. My youngest son, more often than not, snuggles up beside me and it does not take long for the warmth of his body to relax me. The cares and stresses of the week melt away and I peacefully surrender to the sleep that calls to me. It is a big joke in our house- I have seen the beginning and the end of many movies- rarely do I see the middle!
As my eldest son grew older, we would often watch a movie together after the younger kids had gone to bed. It gave us lots to talk about and discuss. Now that he is off to university, we no longer have the time together, however, we often share our opinions on movies we have watched.
I cherish these beautiful families moments-only a few hours but we are all together, but we can laugh, share, feel sad, and some times even a little scared. Family Tradition.
Love and All Good Things,
The Peaceful Matriarch
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
TIPS FOR MOVIE NIGHT:
1. Your local library is a phenomenal source for movies- and free.
2. Members of GoodLife Fitness Clubs can rent movies under their membership for extremely low cost. In North Bay, ON, it is $5.00
3. Host a movie swap. Call your friends to come over for an evening or afternoon movie swap. After you have the swap, watch a movie together!
4. Set up a lending library with your friends. I highly recommend you keep a note book containing a record of who you lent the movies to. You should also come to some agreement as to what you will do if the movie is damaged. It seems easy but you do not want to have any hard feelings between friends.
5. Get your Jammies on! Get comfortable and cozy!
6. I do not allow my children to watch movies that are not within their age rating. Be careful when you borrow or buy older movies. The ratings have changed significantly. There are many of the older movies that were rated PG and by today’s standard should be PG-13 or more.
7. Popcorn is better than chips. A hot air popper or popping the corn in a pot on the stove…hmmmmm good.
8. I do not allow my children to drink pop. On special occasions I allow them to have Sprite or GingerAle. However, for some reason, I have always loved orange juice with my popcorn. The frozen orange juice that has to be mixed with water.
9. If you have more than one child and they are in the same age range, have them decide who can pick the movie. I have offered my kids suggestions- flip a coin; keep a list. I only allow them to watch one movie, on the rare occasion, two. My kids for the longest time wrote their “turn” on the calendar.
10. Start a Friday Night Movie Night with your friends. Take turns hosting.
SIMPLY LIVE, LIVE SIMPLY
No comments:
Post a Comment