M is for Movie

Welcome to my Blogging from A to Z April Challenge for 2019! The A to Z Challenge is a blogging event held each April. Bloggers create posts from A to Z beginning on April 1st and ending on April 30th. There is a post scheduled for each day of the month (except for Sundays) with each day corresponding to a sequential letter of the alphabet.

We are once again drowning in snow here in northern Minnesota. This state of seemingly never ending winter is why I chose my theme of indoor toddler activities for the A to Z challenge. Our family spends half of our year with fairly icky outdoor weather, so we need a good assortment of things we can do inside to keep ourselves sane.

Today's featured letter is the letter M. And in this case, we are taking the M to stand for Movie.

As a parent, there are times when you simply need a break. It's okay. It happens to everyone. The days get overwhelming or you fall ill or there are just so many other things that need to get done...there needs to be a solid distraction for the kids. And in those cases (and occasionally here and there as you simply need a breather), a movie can be a very welcome activity.

I am not a parent who completely abhors screen time. I recognize that there is a need to limit it in order to encourage spontaneous and imaginative play, but the television is not an evil device in our house. We use YouTube for educational videos and PBS Kids for a few shows here and there. I don't really like mindless television...I try to aim for something interactive that we can use to learn something or be active in some way. But...we also have a good collection of family friendly films on deck. Disney and Pixar and the like.

The Boy's current favorite is Cars. (We also went through a Coco phase.) He knows where it is on the shelf and will eagerly pick it out on his own and bring it to me during the day. Owing to the fact that my older stepson was similarly fascinated with the same movie as a toddler (long time readers will be familiar with Darian), I have likely seen this movie a thousand times without requiring any exaggeration to that estimate. I could probably narrate the entire video if pressed. But...I'm grateful that Cars is his pick. It's one of the less annoying possibilities. (Thank goodness I am not stuck watching Barney or Teletubbies or the nasal whines of Caillou.)

Sometimes, I will sit and watch it with him. Sometimes we only have it on for fifteen minutes before he gets bored and wants to play something else. Sometimes he sits quietly on the couch through the whole movie as I sweep and attend to laundry and just take my own personal quiet time. I think it's good for us to have this kind of "time out" once in a while. It's something to just use as a wind down and relaxation before we feel the need to be up and moving again, buzzing from toy to toy, with me engaging, but also following behind him cleaning up whatever marvelous mess he has managed to create.

It's not an every day activity, but it is an okay activity. Besides...sometimes the couch is comfy. And sometimes you just need to hear an animated car say "Ka-Chow".

Are you an A to Z Blogger too? Leave me a comment so I can repay the visit.

Not an A to Z Blogger, but love the idea? Go here to see what other fun you can find in the challenge.

Miss a prior 2016 A to Z post? Find your missing link down below...

    A is for ASL                                   B is for Bubbles                 C is for Counting

    D is for Dot                                   E is for Exercise                 F is for Fort

    G is for Go Fish                             H is for Helping                 I is for Indoor Car Wash

    J is for Jigsaw                                K is for Kinetic Sand          L is for Letters