Friday Night Family Movie Nights!!!!!!!

          Friday nights at our house are always the highly anticipated "Family Movie Night." We instituted this little 'tradition' a few years ago, and let me tell you- it is by far one of the traditions that the children have adamantly and faithfully worked to ensure that it has held its ground firmly and lasted through all my oodles of attempts at instilling family traditions in our home (some tried and true, others...big flops). It is rather amusing to me how excited and eager the children are each week...it indeed comes close to a Holy Day in our home, as far as the kids are concerned. When Friday afternoon rolls around and the realization hits that the school day is over at last (!), someone will inevitably announce with glee, as though Papa Francis himself was coming for dinner that very evening, "Hey!!!! It's Friday Movie Night tonight!!!!!!" Thanks to the wonderful & ingenious invention of 'live streaming' and online movie rentals like Netflix, we have the wide world of endless selections available at our little fingertips. So, we have our evening meal and after praying our rosary (Lord willing!), the BIG DECISION is laid before a family of 7 people, all with different interests and tastes: What movie will it be tonight? I have to admit, I never thought the day would come when I would feel completely 'out of the know' (opposite of 'in the know' :) of music and movies.....but indeed those days have come (in fact, they came shortly after motherhood began!) I honestly no longer keep up  (nor really have much desire to keep up) with the 'recent box office hit movies' or 'top 10 billboard hits' (do they even still call it that?) Instead, I defer to my computer and browsing skills. I am grateful for sites like 'plugged in.com' and 'decent films guide.com', where I can read critiques of many popular moves from pretty well-respected, like-minded movie critics, to help guide us in our movie selections (since I no longer have the time, nor energy, to watch every movie we watch ahead of time first.) Ah! Weren't those the days when I had time to watch a movie twice....or even get through an entire movie without being interrupted...or having to change a diaper....or pausing for this, that and the other child to go potty.... or preparing a second dinner for the forever hungry tribe of bottomless pitted scavengers living under my roof.... or cleaning up pee off the leather couch because the baby decided to pee as soon as I took his diaper off to change him in a less-than-ideal location....or to stop the movie because a certain 3 year old dropped a glass in the kitchen that broke into pieces everywhere and immediately needed attention before a worse 'accident' might occur... or.... yep. Never manage to get through an entire movie straight through. And, in all fairness, it's not always the little peoples' fault. My movie watching stamina has never been, ahem, that great (ask my brother how often I've ever made it through an entire movie without having to be woken up!) and it's only gotten worse with age (and...children.) Okay....I digress. Back to our Fun Family Friday Movie Nights! So, we have now instituted a new movie-selection-competition. Yes, a competition. Why, you ask? With our children, I have begun to learn that competition does wonders in our family. I myself am personally not a terribly competitive person; nope. Very laid back, happy to let someone else choose for the most part, when it comes to decisions. But our two oldest, M & L, can be, well, competitive, to put it lightly. In particular M, the oldest child, is greatly driven by competition. And she'll drag her brother into things, whether he would usually care or not. So now, it's almost become part of the Friday Movie Night Tradition, that the oldest two begin to bicker 'til the sun goes down about what movie should get watched that Friday night (because that Friday night is all that matters. Doesn't matter that they get to watch one the next Friday. Doesn't matter. All that matters is this Friday Movie Night. Right here. Right now.) So, back to the new movie-selection-competition. Two weeks ago their father made an official announcement: Before Movie Night begins on Fridays, the shoe rack in the garage will be inspected and both bedrooms (girls vs boys) will be inspected as well. Whosoever's rack and room are in the overall best condition (again, boys vs girls), they will be crowned with the privilege of being that evening's Movie Selector.  Ah yes, you must be wondering, "But what if the 2 girls/boys can't agree on a movie? Then what could possibly be done in this delicate, yet ever so important decision making moment each week??" Have no fear, a tie breaker has been established as well. If the partners of the winning team cannot agree, then the final choice is given to moi, who must determine which of the two winners was the most obedient that day. Phew!! Sounds like quite the lengthy process just to watch a movie, eh? Believe me-- it happens much faster than you can imagine. Those children are never more intense and serious about cleaning up and having things in order than right before "inspection time"! 

All of that to say, tonight Mama chose the movie.  :)   Why? Because a dear friend had a recommendation of a fun movie, and frankly I, who usually doesn't care too much about the selection (as long as it's a family flick, and age appropriate), simply wanted to watch this particular movie. So, Mama convinced the winners to choose my movie selection. :)

I know you're dying to hear what tonight's Friday Night Family Movie Night movie was!!
Drumroll please........................................

"Nanny McPhee" it was!!!!
I must say- it was a darling movie. In fact, it was very much a Mary Poppins- like movie. And Emma Thompson played the nanny, so I knew it had to be good (I love her in anything I have seen her in.) Well, the girls (who won tonight) graciously agreed to Mama's movie selection, and the boys just about had a conniption. However, once the movie started, all was well.
I must share one especially endearing little moment during the movie....

So, Nanny McPhee is this magical, wise nanny that has come to help a very dysfunctional family of 7 unruly, naughty children who have a widower father that no longer has the time to spend with his children that he used to when their mother/his wife was living. (See the Mary Poppins connections already?) Well, during one point in the story, you realize that every time the children learn one of the valuable, important lessons that Nanny McPhee is there to teach them, one of her physical deformities or imperfections 'disappears'. I asked the children, after this happened to her 2 times so far in the movie, "Do you guys realize what it is that made her two warts actually disappear each time?" (Take note of my thought-provoking, Socratic attempt at engaging my children on a deeper level of understanding with the movie.) My L (7 1/2 yrs) turns to me at that moment....

"Mama... why doesn't she just go to the doctor like I do and have the doctor zap the warts off of her, just like they did to me?? That's easy to do!"

Duh! How could I have not thought about that solution?!!!

Dear Nanny McPhee,

I suggest you pick up the phone and call
Dr. __________ at the dermatologist office my son goes to. He does a fine job of quickly (albeit not without some pain, I must be sure to mention) removing undesirable warts.
If you want his number, let me know.

Blessings,
M