Sorry for posting a few days late. I’m pretty much over Covid by now, but my head and emotions are pretty messed up after being put under house arrest for the third time in the past year. My eating schedule, too, has suffered. I didn’t really eat anything for the first couple of days that I was sick, and I guess I’ve gotten out of the habit of eating regular meals. I’m not proud of it, but I don’t know how to fix things.
In better news, I’ve discovered the value of family movie night.
I’ve never really been one to watch much TV. I don’t even plan on buying a television when I get my own place. I watch a fair amount of YouTube, and I enjoy listening to music while I write, crochet, or play Candy Crush. But for some reason, I don’t often watch TV or movies. My family, on the other hand, loves watching TV. It’s my dad’s only hobby besides going to the gym. He watches so much TV that he’s just about worn a hole in our couch.
Our family doesn’t really do much together. We used to have a tradition of making pizza every Friday night and then watching America’s Funniest Home Videos, but we stopped doing that after we moved from Illinois to Texas. (I stopped doing a lot of other things when we moved, like making my bed every day and reading everything I could get my hands on.) These days, unless we go on vacation together, go mini-golfing, or watch a TV show together, we basically just do our own thing. It’s sort of like living with three roommates, two of whom like hugs.
The thing about having Covid is that it takes you a while to get your energy back. Yesterday, I went shopping and came back absolutely worn out. My limbs had decided to take the afternoon off, and I couldn’t see myself getting out of bed until dinner. (What we would eat was another question, as no one’s really cooked in a couple of weeks.) Mom asked me if I wanted to watch a movie, and I said no.
My sister, for whatever reason, came in my room and demanded I go spend time with my mother. And my sister isn’t exactly the sort of person you argue with. So downstairs I went, bringing my crochet with me. We borrowed Disney+ from a friend, and Mom was looking for a movie.
We wound up watching the live-action Beauty and the Beast. I’d seen it once before, and I hadn’t remembered how much worse than the original it was. But we watched it together. My sister joined in eventually. And it was fun.
I went to pick up Chipotle for dinner, and when I came back, my mom and sister were watching the original. I joined them while I ate. It was fun.
This morning, my sister commandeered the TV before online church started and pulled up the first Ice Age movie. Now, I grew up watching Ice Age. It’s been part of my life for as long as I can remember. My parents enjoy watching it. Somehow, instead of watching church, my whole family wound up in the living room, watching a ragtag bunch of mammals return a baby human to his “pack.” My dad, who tends to hate animated movies, didn’t even fall asleep!
Maybe it was just because we watched old, feel-good movies together that made the experience so special. I don’t know. But I enjoyed it immensely, and I’m looking forward to doing it again sometime.
What’s your favorite movie to watch with family? Let me know in the comments below! God bless you, dear readers, and don’t forget to review us on Amazon!