Friends are an important part of who you are, don’t you think?
At this time of the year we start remembering more often how thankful we are for the things we have and for the people we have in our lives. Teaching our kids how to be more thankful is very hard to do as a parent, at least it is for this parent. I like to remind my kids that what is more important than the things you have are the family and friends you have in your life. Finding the right words to show the importance of friends and family may be a bit more difficult because you can’t see the words, but if you show them, it will resonate with them longer and they may have that “ah-ha” moment we as parents want to spark when teaching valuable life lessons. I like to find those values in family-friendly movies and after watching we usually will discuss the importance of what the movie was about.
My oldest daughter who is now 16 went to see Toy Story for the first time when it came out and it was her very first time in a movie theater so that movie will always hold a special place in my heart. But aside from that, this movie teaches kids so much about friendship. When the gang is introduced to the newest toy-friend, all the toys are excited to meet the new toy except Woody. He was used to being top dog and now with a new guy in the picture, that quickly changes. The toys were amazed with Buzz Lightyear’s wing span and all the cool things he could do, and thought it was cool that he could fly. However, Woody quickly saw through that and made many attempts to make the new toy realize that he wasn’t any different than the rest of the toys. The two, and their group of friends went through ups and downs, just as in any friendship, and before either one knew it, they became best friends.
There are many child-friendly movies that teach the importance of friendship that can either be rented on, or streamed from Netflix. For your little ones you can search for movies such as Clifford. All of my kids loved watching Clifford and each episode has a great message and take away that can be used to open the lines of communication to discuss the value and meaning of friends. For the bigger kids, you might also consider, Adventure Time {which is a big one in our house}, Charlotte’s Web and Phineas and Ferb. My oldest is loves watching the New Girl and I’m a fan of Gilmore Girls and now, The Hart of Dixie!