Picture this: Thanksgiving dinner has ended, the kitchen is full of dirty dishes and you need to get them cleaned up and in the dishwasher so you can finally relax.
In the other room, your children are at that point where they are sleepy from the turkey, but also wound up because of the holiday.
What do you do to buy yourself some time to get the kitchen cleaned up?
You pop in a new family friendly flick to keep the Mousekatot’s at bay.
1. “The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration”
This special, hosted by the sibling duo of Derek and Julianne Hough will lead the two-hour special starting at 8 p.m. on ABC Thanksgiving night.
What makes this great is first of all it is Disney, pretty much a promotional video for how beautiful their parks are, and second of all it is already on TV which will make it easy to just turn the channel when the time arrives.
2. “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving”
This is one of my all time favorites and a must watch every year. (I think Snoopy has the right idea for the Thanksgiving dinner.)
The only downside, beside Peppermint Patty inviting her annoying self to Charlie Brown’s house for Thanksgiving, is that it is less than a half hour long. It won’t buy you too much time to do a massive cleanup.
3. “Garfield’s Thanksgiving”
If you pair this film with the aforementioned Charlie Brown movie you can have almost an hour to clean the kitchen.
It is a little harder to find, I think we have our copy because we bought a boxed set of all the Garfield holiday movies, but it is really worth it.
Jon’s Grandma, who comes in to save the day and Thanksgiving dinner is an absolute hoot, and the meaning behind the film is full of heart.
4. “The Nightmare Before Christmas”
I have always considered this a Thanksgiving movie because it is right between Halloween and Christmas, which are the two holiday prominently featured in the film.
This stop animated classic film from Tim Burton can be a little spooky for little ones so you will want to make sure it is suitable for your Mousekatots.
The message of being true to yourself and using your strengths in life is one that is really important.
5. “White Christmas”
Technically this is a Christmas movie, but it is a nice way to usher in the holiday season.
Even though “White Christmas” came out over 50 years ago, it is still a classic that is full of humor and heart and is just beautiful and elegant.
You might get some eye rolls from your Mousekateens, but just give it time and they will be glued to the television.
What films are part of your family’s holiday traditions to kick off the Christmas season? Leave your comments below.
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