Movies
I felt like I totally lucked out with the girls' birthdays this year. We all know how much I hate hosting birthday parties. I sure don't mind if my kids go to someone else's party, but I hate the chaos of trying to entertain a bunch of kids at my house. In the past we've bribed the kids to not have parties. We've given them $50, in addition to their gifts, to go spend however they want (with a few minor restrictions, i.e. no cats, lizards, snakes, rabbits or anything else that is alive.) This year I threw in the option of having a movie/pizza party, I felt like I could handle that, and thats what both girls chose.
For her birthday, Brittany invited four friends (but only 3 could come) over for the evening. I thought long and hard about which movie to let them watch. I wanted something that they likely hadn't seen recently or at all. I decided on "Goonies" from 1985. I've always thought that was a pretty good show. Brent and I watched it a while back and I didn't recall anything too inappropriate. So when the friends showed up we dished up the pizza and started the flick. About 20 minutes into it, Brittany comes upstairs and says one of the girls didn't want to finish the movie because there were swear words in it. Brent and I looked at each and kind of rolled our eyes, thinking we had a goody-goody on our hands. I didn't want anyone to be uncomfortable and I certainly didn't want phone calls from parents later on so I changed the movie. They ended up watching "The Never Ending Story" and they loved it and even better, none of them had seen it previously.
A week or so after Brittany's party Brent and I sat down to watch "Goonies". We were shocked at how much swearing we didn't remember was in that movie. There are also a few scenes that although commical for adults, would be inappropriate for young viewers. We were a little embarrassed that we were going to let this group of 10-year old girls watch that. Now, I still think "Goonies" is a great show and we did let Brittany watch it start to finish the day after her party. However, my younger kids will not being seeing it any time soon and I will not show it to a group of my kids' friends. So, the lesson I've learned from all of this is that I must screen movies before parties and not rely on my memory. And in retrospect, good for that friend for sticking to her standards. I only hope my kids will have that kind of courage if they find themselves in that situation.
Brooklyn's birthday is next week and her movie party will be this Saturday night. I've had a difficult time trying to come up with something appropriate for this age group. It needs to be clean (no swearing, no sex, no violence) and I want it to be something not too recent so hopefully its been a while since the kids have seen it, otherwise they lose interest real fast. I asked for ideas on facebook and a couple of people suggested "Enchanted". It came out in 2007 so hopefully its been long enough since the kids have seen it. I recall it being a clean show and commonsensemedia.org agrees with me. I will be watching it myself before Saturday, just to make sure. Does anyone have any other suggestions, just in case?
For her birthday, Brittany invited four friends (but only 3 could come) over for the evening. I thought long and hard about which movie to let them watch. I wanted something that they likely hadn't seen recently or at all. I decided on "Goonies" from 1985. I've always thought that was a pretty good show. Brent and I watched it a while back and I didn't recall anything too inappropriate. So when the friends showed up we dished up the pizza and started the flick. About 20 minutes into it, Brittany comes upstairs and says one of the girls didn't want to finish the movie because there were swear words in it. Brent and I looked at each and kind of rolled our eyes, thinking we had a goody-goody on our hands. I didn't want anyone to be uncomfortable and I certainly didn't want phone calls from parents later on so I changed the movie. They ended up watching "The Never Ending Story" and they loved it and even better, none of them had seen it previously.
A week or so after Brittany's party Brent and I sat down to watch "Goonies". We were shocked at how much swearing we didn't remember was in that movie. There are also a few scenes that although commical for adults, would be inappropriate for young viewers. We were a little embarrassed that we were going to let this group of 10-year old girls watch that. Now, I still think "Goonies" is a great show and we did let Brittany watch it start to finish the day after her party. However, my younger kids will not being seeing it any time soon and I will not show it to a group of my kids' friends. So, the lesson I've learned from all of this is that I must screen movies before parties and not rely on my memory. And in retrospect, good for that friend for sticking to her standards. I only hope my kids will have that kind of courage if they find themselves in that situation.
Brooklyn's birthday is next week and her movie party will be this Saturday night. I've had a difficult time trying to come up with something appropriate for this age group. It needs to be clean (no swearing, no sex, no violence) and I want it to be something not too recent so hopefully its been a while since the kids have seen it, otherwise they lose interest real fast. I asked for ideas on facebook and a couple of people suggested "Enchanted". It came out in 2007 so hopefully its been long enough since the kids have seen it. I recall it being a clean show and commonsensemedia.org agrees with me. I will be watching it myself before Saturday, just to make sure. Does anyone have any other suggestions, just in case?
Comments
I already know I'm very lienent compared to some about what I allow my kids to watch. for instance we have let the kids watch about any superhero movie their is. Starting at the age of two. When talking to a mom about Spiderman she said it was just so violent.And Harry potter was to scary. So I always play it safe with a pixar to ensure I don't ruin another persons child. ( okay I roll my eyes alot here.)
But I have my limits I expect to be respected so I try to do the same for other moms.
As for movie suggestions that aren't too recent. What about Annie? that's a classic and good clean fun. My kids love that movie. If I rememeber anymore of the movies that I think might work, I'll email ya.
I always like Ella Enchanted (Anne Hathaway ~ pretty sure that one was clean)
p.s. Annie has a "sexy" scene with Carol Burnett & the guy that picks up the laundry. I always use screenit.com & check the parental reviews for movies before we watch them. They list exactly how many swear words there are, any sex scenes, etc.
Sorry for the following lengthy post but it may come in handy.
http://www.kids-in-mind.com/ is another great site for screening movies. They are working on adding to their library but they have well back into the early nineties worth of movies. They give a number rating out of 10 for each category; Sex/nudity, Violence/Gore, and Swearing. They are VERY thorough and go through each questionable scene in detail for each category. They let you know exactly what questionable words are used (F words, scatological terms, religious profanities,anatomical terms, etc etc). It also has a category for substance use and list things like alcohol, cigarettes etc although this category is not given a number. VERY THOROUGH. If you haven't seen a movie, it can be a bit of a spoiler if you read all the scene notes, but if you are checking for your kids it's great. Here's an example. Disney's Aladin is listed as a 1 for Sex/Nudity, a 3 for Violence and a 0 for language. Under the explanations, is says this as to why it got a 1 for sex/nudity: "Three Disney kisses. Two between the Princess and Aladdin and one between the Princess and the evil Jafar. The princess is drawn rather seductively, with a little cleavage and an exposed midriff. And she does flaunt her curvy figure.
We have come to depend on this system and my kids know what their limits are for each category. (Violence doesn't concern me AS much... ex. a couple of the Pirates of the Carribean were a 7 for violence, no surprise.) If they want to see a movie, I say, "check the numbers!"
Sorry this is so long but this might help others out there and will DEFINITELY be handy as your kids get to the teen years and start saying "well, So and so's allowed to see the movie....PLEASE can I go" We have no more fights; if the numbers are too high, you're out of luck.
James will call me from the movie rental store and ask for the number ratings for different movies. Things that we were waiting to watch, we put back on the shelf because it surprises us with a 10 for language! Beats wasting your time and money by bringing it home and being disgusted.
ANYWAY, good luck in your search!!!