Family movie night

Last fall, when June started kindergarten, we joined the ranks of many, many families before us and set aside Fridays for family movie night. This is not an original idea, but it has become a beloved tradition. The kids look forward to it all week and, to be fair – since we paired it with the takeout tradition we started early last year (after a mini emotional meltdown over the passing of time, no big deal) – so do we. Fridays have never been better over here.

A mostly-unrelated photo because I don’t have any of movie night… I’ve been practicing my French braiding!

Today, I thought it might be fun to share the movies we watched in the 2021-2022 school year along with a few mini reviews! But first, a little background:

• June was 5 and 6 and Shep was 3 when we watched the movies below. Annie was under one and did not participate in family movie night.
• On movie night, we aim to eat dinner no later than 6:30, then do quick baths and pajamas and be watching the movie by 7:30/8. Since most kid movies are about 90 minutes, this still gets our kids in bed by 9:30ish, which works for our us. (June had no problem staying up, though Shep would occasionally fall asleep or even ask to go to bed halfway through the movie, ha! Know thyself, buddy.)
• We eat dessert during the movie. Historically, this was a cookie from the bakery we can walk to from preschool, but since it recently closed (sob!), we’ve been improvising.
• Something I feel passionately about: this is family movie night, not kid movie night. I want my children to see me enjoying leisure time, not scrolling on my phone or cleaning up the kitchen while they enjoy themselves. And why wouldn’t I?! Movie night is FUN! Our rule is that the adults get to pick the movie for family movie night, since the kids get to pick their shows most of the time, so of course we pick favorites from our childhood and newer movies we want to see.
• We do also have family movie night during the summer, but it tends to be more sporadic than during the school year, since we’re traveling, have more plans, or prioritize playing outside.

Onto the movies! Here’s what we watched last school year, as best as I can remember and roughly in order.

• Ratatouille (I love this movie! June thought parts were scary and lots went over Shep’s head, but I adore it.)
• Luca
• Robin Hood (One of John’s favorites from childhood!)
• Cars (Shep liked it; June was ambivalent.)
• Lady & the Tramp
• Monsters, Inc. (June thought this one was too scary – sensing a theme? :))
• Cars 2 (I had never seen the Cars movies, so movie night was the perfect excuse to watch them!)
• Toy Story (Our kids were not into it! Hoping they like it more as they get older.)
• Peter Pan (It pains me to say it – John even had a cat named Peter Pan when he was little! – but I would not recommend this one – it just doesn’t hold up well, in my opinion. The Native American scenes were painful.)
• A Bug’s Life (This isn’t one of my favorites, but our kids loved it! When they have a babysitter on a Friday night, we let them pick the movie from one we’ve watched together, and this is often their pick.)
• The Sword and the Stone (One of my favorites from childhood! It held up and our kids went wild for the squirrel scene. June did think it was a little too scary at times.)
• Aladdin (Also too scary at times for June.)
• Encanto (Loved it! The story was a bit thin but the music and colors are great.)
• Pocahontas (A hit! This was a favorite of mine from childhood, but I hadn’t seen it in decades and worried it wouldn’t hold up (a la Peter Pan). I actually thought it was surprisingly respectful and beautifully done, though of course I’m sure not 100% historically accurate. June’s eyes absolutely lit up during “Colors of the Wind.”)
• Moana (Certain songs/scenes in this one always make me tear up!)
• Brave (This was a bit of a pass – we found the accents a bit hard to understand and the story a little strange. With all of my Scottish heritage, I wish I could give it a better review!)
• Charlotte’s Web (I must have watched this movie a billion times as a child, because it all came rushing back like muscle memory when we watched it! We watched this after reading the book and they loved it.)
• Mary Poppins (This one is over two hours and it couldn’t hold the kids’ attention. We’ll try again when they’re older!)
• 101 Dalmations (They LOVED this one! Characters do call each other rude names, but overall a very popular choice.)
• Fantastic Mr. Fox (Also watched this after reading the book. Much of the humor went over the kids’ heads, but we enjoyed it.)
• Finding Nemo
• Ice Age
• The Lion King (You guessed it – June thought it was scary – but we were able to warn her and she enjoyed it despite the scariness. Just so many epic songs in this one.)
• The Aristocats (We ended on a high note – the kids LOVED this one! This was one of my favorites as a child, too, and it held up. Just a sweet and fun adventure.)

I would love to hear: what movies have been hits at your house for movie night? Do you use it as an excuse to watch favorites from your childhood? (We have SO many more on the list I’m eager to get to!)