30 Movies to Watch With Your Kids {if You Were Born in the 80’s}

There’s two reasons why I share movies from when I was a kid, or movies I loved as a kid, with my own children; 1) movies today kind of suck for kids and 2) I’m a sentimental person. Sharing stuff that I loved as a kid with my own is pretty awesome! Movies today feel totally inappropriate for the age they are marketed to, and often there are things that I just plain don’t like. Is it just me or are all parents dumb now too? And not the Tim Taylor, Danny Tanner kind of dumb, where the parents actually end of being right and the kids come around and end up being respectful. No, parents today are the kind of dumb where they are stay dumb, do dumb things and the kids are the smartest ones in the room. Pass!

This list composes not only movies from my childhood, family movies we watched when I was a little bit older and my sister was young, and movies from my mom’s childhood that we watched as kids. Many of these movies aren’t as flashy as today’s flicks but they are none the less important ones I feel like the next generation needs to have in their lives!

Man of the House

Angels in the Outfield

The Adventures of Huck Finn

Mighty Ducks

That Darn Cat

The Sandlot

Back to the Future (Probably best meant for older kids, includes Adult Content. Common Sense Media Review)

Jurrasic Park (Common Sense Media Review)

Richie Rich

First Kid

Spy Next Door

Home Alone

Jumanji

Men in Black (Common Sense Media Review)

The Parent Trap (we prefer the original)

The Little Rascals

Space Jam

Casper

The Secret Garden

The Little Princess

Galaxy Quest

Flubber (Original and new versions)

Shaggy Dog

The Incredible Mr. Limpet

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids!

The Santa Claus

Davy Crockett

Charlie the Lonesome Cougar

Spy Kids

A Kid in King Arthur’s Court

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6 Favorite Amazon Subscribe and Save Items

Amazon Subscribe and Save is one of my favorite things! It is the perfect thing for all those items that you don’t get every time you go to the store. I can trust that these things will show up and I’ll get a great deal. The best part about Subscribe and Save is that the more you add to your subscribe and save the more of a discount you can get! Items show up at your door, you get a great deal AND you can save a little extra the more you buy? Yes! If you don’t want to set up a Subcribe and Save list you can also get any of these items in a single order by clicking here.

 

got2be ultra glued styling gel – This is my boys’ favorite gel to use on their hair! It’s a great price, they love the smell and a little bit goes a long way! It can easily last for several months. With two boys we got through quite a bit of gel because they are at the age where they really care about their hair, which is adorable.

 

SoCozy Detangler – We have gone through many different detanglers in our home. Truly the most important thing in handling my daughter’s hair is a great conditioner, but having a good detangler is also key. We have used really expensive ones, store brand, any brand you can think of. We finally settled on this brand and it gets the Ami two thumbs up seal of approval. I have this on subscribe and save so I never have to worry about running out of her favorite detangler!

Almay Wipe It Never Happened MakeUp Remover – I’ve talked about this makeup remover before and I’ll keep talking about it. Removing eye makeup and color stay lipstick can be a bear! What I love about this is that it is the trusted Almay brand that works for my sensitive skin. I don’t have to worry about it breaking me out or causing any problems. But the best part is that I don’t have to scrub my skin raw. Try it and let me know what you think!

 

Marmara cotton squares– I love these cotton squares and I used them for my face, my daughter uses them for her face, nail polish removing and because I get them in a 3 pack I only have to get them about every three months. Another great thing about Subscribe and Save is that I have the option to postpone certain items and occasionally I will push them off an extra month because I just haven’t used all of them.

 

Garnier SkinActive Micellar Water – Micellar Water has been a great thing for my daughter as she has entered into that phase of life where she really has to start paying attention to taking care of herself. Getting her in the habit of washing her face is easy with this. She puts a little bit on a cotton square, swipes her face and she’s good to go. I also use it to refresh my face in the morning and remove makeup in the evening. It’s great and gentle on our sensitive skin!

 

SoCozy body wash+shampoo+conditioner – I love the SoCozy brand, as you saw above, and in the summertime, I add the pool shampoo conditioner to my subscribe and save list. But, during the rest of the year, I purchase this 3n1 specifically for my boys. Its easy and simple and they only have to use one bottle. Makes shower time so easy for me AND them! It is a salon quality product for kids, non-toxic and protects hair. It also leaves their hair so soft and smelling good!

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I Took My 12 Year-Old’s Cell Phone and Guess What Happened?

Let’s just start out by saying that Middle School is rough. I knew it was but man, it all comes flooding back when you send your first child there. Its gonna be fine you tell yourself, he’ll survive just like you did right? And then comes the first hard parenting decision you have to make. The first quarter didn’t go the best. The sharp left turn into the google classroom world wasn’t an easy one. The idea of doing everything on a computer, turning stuff in, sitting in a classroom also on a computer was a lot for my kid’s brain I think. Focusing doesn’t necessarily come easier when you are on a computer all day, then come home to also work on the computer. Despite all that I will say that the staff at our school, for the most part, is top notch!  They have been supportive, gotten tutoring for him for math once a week, and have just been all around supportive and approaches things with a listening ear. One of the worst parts, and most surprising, has been the change to letter grades and the fact that they are updated in real time. They have spent their entire elementary school lives with these arbitrary number grades which mean almost nothing. They have no concept of what letter grades mean, how a curve works or having them updated in real time based on what assignments are available to turn in. And the kids can access this through an app on their phone. Not the best idea for a generally anxious kid.

photos by Cherish Pennington Photography

So after much thought, a phone getting taken away and the distraction of it all, I decided to take it away. And guess what? He didn’t die? His world hasn’t fallen apart and he makes it home from school each day and I haven’t worried one little bit about it. We entered the cell phone world mostly because of me – well, all because of me. I was under the impression that he needed it in the big bad world of middle school here. He’d be home by himself sometimes, walking home from the bus or possibly staying late at school. How would I know? What if something happened at school and he needed me? What if he didn’t have his cell phone? So, we got the phone, I downloaded all the cool things like Life 360, which tracks them, and OurPact, which allows you to schedule time when access to games and such are available. He has to request all downloads and be approved by me. I only allow a certain number of “fun” apps on his phone. No Youtube, no music.ly or anything like that. I’m the least fun cell-phone mom in his little circle of friends I think. But that still wasn’t enough. He’s 12! Let’s face it, 12 year-olds aren’t ready for the responsibility of a phone. As evidenced by the fact that almost everyone I know complains about the fact their kid can’t leave their phone and is always on it. So why have we given in? Why are constantly battling something that actually belongs to us? Having a cell-phone is a privilege and not a right. And frankly, as adults, we have a hard time curbing our cell phone usage. Having kids old enough to pay attention has really made that more apparent to me and has directly affected how I behave with my phone.

photo by Cherish Pennington Photography

So, the great cell-phone experience – while not a flop – was, and is a learning experience. Every parent needs to make their own decisions when it comes to technology and their kids, especially when it comes to social media. But why are we giving our children’s adult responsibilities and then annoyed (whether we realize it or not) or shocked when they can’t handle it. If its hard for us to put down the technology how can we expect to not be EVEN MORE difficult for our children to as well? I have to also remember by job isn’t to make him a kid of the world, to make sure he fits in or that he’s the cool kid. My job isn’t even to raise a straight A student! My job is to raise a good human FIRST! Frankly that is my only job. I want my kids to love God, love their families, love their country and their community. That’s it. Not be good at technology, not excel in math, or be able to play every sport with professional ability. Its just not. And that is something I think we have to work on reminding ourselves.

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