This year marks the first year that we are introducing our almost five-year-old to watching movies.

Growing up, my sister and I didn’t have Cable with the endless channels and tv shows to watch. What we did have were parents who curated and created an experience around watching films. VHS tapes were aplenty in our house and if there was a TV movie or Hallmark special on, my mother would take a VHS over to my grandparent’s house and get it taped so we could watch it later.

As a rule, growing up, we watched films together first. Usually, it was over a pizza, a special dinner or dessert. Some sort of treat (even if just a bowl of ice cream) and we would all share in the experience. Once we had all watched the film together we were free to re-watch on our own time, but always, as a rule, we watched movies together first. Bonding over stories, the comedy, and quotes of films became a love language for my family. (I can, if needed, quote the entirety of ‘The Emporer’s New Groove’ on demand.)

I adored that tradition and this year we start a version of it ourselves with Zoë. We haven’t watched many films with her until now, partly due to her personality not being ready and another, in part, knowing that she has her whole life to catch up on all things ‘screen related’.

This year we will be watching a new film with her a movie a month. 12 Movies in 2020.

So far we have watched:

JAN: Frozen
FEB: Lady and the Tramp

Projected:

MAR: Mary Poppins