Movie Night

Friday nights are “movie night” in my house. We started this tradition when my children were young, and it has maintained its place on our schedule, albeit with a few changes occurring over the years. My son has been away at school for 2 years so, he no longer participates  When he comes home for the summer, he is busy with other activities and socializes with his friends. My daughter, who is in grade 11 and still lives at home, now has a boyfriend, a job, and many other things to fill her time rather than sit with her 50-something parents watching a movie that she probably has no interest in.

Unfortunately, Friday night T.V. hosts a variety of sporting events of which my husband sees much more valuable use of his time watching. Since half of the family has bailed on our “quality time”, he deems family night, well, non-existent. We “shoddy” the big screen as we both believe that what we are each watching equally qualifies for the HD experience. We will compromise depending on the importance of the tournament or the rating of the movie, but generally, it’s a “call” system. Last night I got the big screen, but I did wait until the golf tournament finished.

Many would wonder why we don’t watch sports together first and then enjoy the movie. The answer is simple, we just don’t want to, and we are o.k. with it. There are times, like tonight, when we watch the “Final Four” together because I enjoy a good basketball game. Sometimes I watch a bit of golf because I have nothing better to do and I am somewhat interested in it. But for the most part, I don’t like to invest much time in watching sports. When I relax, I like to have a nice glass of wine and watch a good movie or one of my favourite shows, and so, that’s what I do. I don’t expect my husband to watch my choice of films, although he does sometimes join me when the subject peaks his interest.

In the end, there is only so much time in a day, and we each have our favourite things to do. We like to do a lot of things together, but we have found that we need to respect how the other chooses to spend time alone as well. It works for us, and there is no guilt involved. Finding what makes your family happy together is important. Investing time doing what makes you happy on your own is equally valued and well-deserved.