Parenting Philosophy: part 2 - TV and Movies

Welcome to the second installment of my Parenting Philosophy Series! Today I will talk about my thoughts on television and movies.

When I was young, my parents really monitored what I watched on TV. There were very few shows that my sister and I were allowed to watch, and I remember playing outside or in my bedroom more than I remember sitting in front of the TV. I hope it will be the same way with my future children. I want them to be out experiencing life rather than sitting in front of a screen all day.

As far as TV goes, when my children are super young, I don't want them to watch much at all. I would rather limit their TV time as much as possible, but maybe have a family movie night every week or so. Movies are a lot easier to monitor than TV, because you can watch them beforehand. Plus, there are some really great classic movies out there for kids!

Luke and I are movie people anyway. In the past three years, we have been building our blu-ray collection. So today I thought I would make a list of the kids movies I would like to add to the collection. I realize that not all of them are out on blu-ray yet, but I'm assuming that eventually they will be. So anyway, here goes. The ones in red are the ones that we already have.

Disney Animated Movies:
1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
2. Cinderella
3. Lady and the Tramp
4. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
5. The Little Mermaid
6. Beauty and the Beast
7. Aladdin
8. The Lion King
9. The Princess and the Frog
10. Toy Story
11. Toy Story 2
12. Toy Story 3
13. Finding Nemo
14. Wall-e
15. Up

Disney Live Action Movies
1. Mary Poppins
2. Pollyanna
3. The Parent Trap (1961)
4. Chronicles of Narnia series (all)
5. Remember the Titans
6. Enchanted

Christmas Movies
1. A Muppet Christmas Carol
2. Mickey's Christmas Carol
3. Heidi
4. Noel (a little animated movie about a Christmas ornament...I cry every time I see it! haha...has anyone else ever seen it??)
5. The Polar Express
6. Elf
(There are more, but I think I will do a more in-depth post on these at Christmastime :-))

Other Movies:
1. Anne of Green Gables
2. Little Women
3. A Little Princess
4. Veggie Tales movies
5. The Wizard of Oz
6. The Wind in the Willows

That is a pretty long list, so I will stop there for today. Also, I should mention that it was just my sister and I growing up, so that's why this list may seem a little girl-centric. I will have to ask Luke to weigh in on some good movies for little boys if we have any ;-)

I can't wait to be able to watch these movies with my children someday! I foresee Friday or Saturday nights being homemade pizza and movie nights. It will be so much fun! ;-)