It’s Saturday, december 22st and chances are that you are entering your well deserved holidays (a special thought to all staff in hospitals and birth centres who are working hard tonight for our Christmas babies) and that all of the big preparation for the week to come is over. It’s time to relax! That is why I am proposing a list of Christmas movies.

• I think I’ve watched How The Grinch Stole Christmas every year since its release in 2000. I remember laughing so hard with my sister and watching it a few times in a row when it came out. Since then it became a tradition. But I have to say, I just saw the new one that came out last month and I loved it. It was way more positive and I think more kid friendly. Maybe I will modify my tradition a little bit.
• Since Netflix is in my life (haha) I discovered cheesy, badly-made-for-TV Christmas movies. The perfect moment to watch this kind of movie is when I’m really tired and... when my husband is not home!! The list is endless but this year I enjoyed watching Princess Switch - the story of a princess and a baker who look identical and decide to switch lives for a few days.
• A couple of weeks ago, I watched A Christmas Story for the first time. I know, I know, I was missing something. This movie came out in 1983 and it takes place in 1966 and yet, I think it aged really well! The story of a family that clearly loves one another and of a little boy with a lot of imagination!
• Another tradition in my family is the movie Bach and Broccoli (Bach et Bottine) from the series Contes pour tous (Tales for All). Because my parents have it on VHS only, it’s harder to watch now but I know that it is available through the Winnipeg Public Libraries. When I do watch it, it makes my heart happy, and I advise you to do the same!!
• About 10 years ago, for Christmas as a gift, my brother transferred on DVD all of our home videos where you can see my sisters, my brother and I when we were little. We rarely miss an opportunity to watch those videos when we are together during the holidays. If you don’t have videos of your childhood, try to watch the ones you filmed of your kids on the big screen… nowadays we have so much footage on our phones that we rarely watch. Go make some popcorn, get comfortable and enjoy!

On that note, Happy Holidays! Between the many many family and friend’s gatherings, don’t forget to add to your schedule some down time (maybe to watch a movie??) or maybe to cuddle with your spouse - let’s not forget that this is a very popular period of the year to conceive, just count all the people you know that have birthdays at the end of August… including me!! See you in August 2019??