DIY Family Streaming Planner = Consensus #Streamteam #Ad @Netflix_CA

Strategies for ending Streaming Selection Squabbles and Bringing 

Calm and Consensus to Family Movie Night negotiations.

Disclosure: As a member of the Netflix Streamteam I receive special 

perks for my participation, posts, and sharing. All opinions are my own. 

I think most of us have had the following experience: You lovingly plan a Family Movie Night, with visions of family harmony and bliss. In reality the kids argue over what to watch, frustrated you lay down the law and make the decision, at which point the kids stomp off and refusing to participate. This is followed by you watching a movie alone, while eating the snacks you prepared in quantities large enough to serve a family of four. In my opinion the key to avoiding this type of solo-streaming is managing expectations: by putting into place mechanisms to for everyone to have input into the decision making process, and clear rules and guidelines beforehand. An easy way to do this is by using my easy to make DIY Family Streaming Planner (FSP). My DIY FSP will take you no time to make and cost almost nothing. I used recycled paper, 3 mason jars, and a notebook. 

The FSP Users Manual: 
Start by putting in writing some basic non-negotiable rules and guidelines, which should be kept in your FSP for quick and easy reference. Make sure everyone reads, understands, and signs to acknowledge the rules and guidelines. This single action will save you hours of conflict resolution, frustration, and set the expectations for participation. 

Rules and Guidelines...
1) Movie and show suggestions must be approved by FSP administrators (aka parents).
2) A different family member will randomly pick from each category. For example: if Thing 2 picks the movie, he can not pick the snack. 
3) The family member randomly picking the snack, movie or show rotates. For example: if Thing 1 picks the movie this week, next week the next person on the list picks that category. Weekday show negotiations can be resolved in the same manner, and the reason for the "Show Jar"
4) All family members agree to accept the randomly picked snack, movie or show, and may not opt out because they don't like the snack, movie, or show selected.
5) If a situation arises where a selected snack cannot be provided, administrators (aka parents) may substitute, or pull another snack selection. For example: missing ingredients, or time doesn't allow for a given snack. Idea: Select the snack the week prior so there is time to purchase snack ingredients during the weekly grocery shopping. I don't suggest doing this with the movie or show selections, since it will give the kids time to figure out how to wiggle out of participation if they don't like the selection, or argue over the selection. 

Snacks, Movies, Shows.
To start pre-select 10 snacks, movies and shows, write them on small slips of paper, fold, and place in the jars. Going forward each family member can add up to 1 new movie and show suggestion per week. Snacks stay constant to ensure availability of ingredients, and preparation is easy, but a quarterly review of snack options might make sense.

A peek at what's in our jars ...

Movies:
Nine Lives (2016, PG, Family-Comedy)
Here Comes the Boom (2012, PG, Comedy)
Enchanted (2007, G, Comedy - Fantasy)
Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005, G, Comedy - Animated)
Shows:
Bindi's Bootcamp (2012, TV-G, 1 season, Reality-Adventure)
Merlin (2017, TV-PG, 5 seasons, Fantasy)
Roswell (2001, PG, 3 seasons, Sci-Fi - Teen)
Drop Dead Diva (2014, PG, 6 seasons, Comedy)
Snacks:
1 Minute Microwave Nachos (Top nacho chips with cheese, salsa, and your other favourite toppings. Microwave on high for 1 minute)
Pizza Bites (Pizza cut into bite size pieces, served with a variety of dips)
Mini Pancakes or French Toast Fingers (Idea: Add the syrup to the batter so they are mess-free (ish) and easy to eat)
Hummus & Crackers or Nacho Chips or Sliced French Stick

Still need help avoiding Solo-Streaming?
Assuming of course you don't want to Solo-Stream, because there are definitely times when you do, then the tips below may help to reach your streaming goals, and hone your persuasion skills. And who knows, maybe Chef's Table will provide you with some inspired snack ideas for your family to nibble on while sharing a movie, or episode of your favourite show. I know I like it better when we stream together ... sometimes.  

Do tell ... how do you settle streaming selection squabbles? 

Yep,  just me Cathy thinking our loud about the power of persuasion and peaceful streaming selection negotiations. 

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Family Movie Night & Older Kids - Adapting to the Now #streamteam @Netflix_CA

Carving out Family Time With My Young Adult Kids:

Life as a parent is ever evolving, and requires an ability to adapt to the realities of now while keeping an eye on the end goals. It use to be easy, but as my kids get older connecting as a family has become increasingly more challenging, yet more important than ever in my opinion. 

As teens and young adults I think my kids actually need more family time and opportunities to connect and have important conversations about life, school, relationships or just hang out with Mom and Dad. I believe this regular casual bonding time while growing up leads to connections and trust that will make even the hard conversations of the future possible. Having said that I'm really struggling this year to try to carve out some family and/or one on one time with my kids. My eldest is in college and my youngest is in residence at university with vastly different schedules, but I refuse to let go of at least the occasional family movie night (or afternoon). Nothing beats hearing my kids' spontaneous belly laugh while watching a comedy, or their audio effects made while watching an action flick. 

Streaming With Your Young Adults:
Shows:

• Luke Cage
• Spotless
• Arrested Development 

Movies:

• Ride Along
• The Fundamentals of Caring
• RED and RED 2
• Jump Street 21 and Jump Street 22

Our family has a long tradition of Friday Family Movie Night that started when my kids were toddlers and continued until they were well into high school. So for those of you with younger kids here are some options to start or reboot your family movie night tradition. 

Streaming With Younger Kids:
Shows:

• Kazoops
• Kulipari: An Army of Frogs
• Veggietales in the House

Movies:

• Maleficent
• Planes: Fire & Rescue
• Zootopia
• Tangled
• The Princess and The Frog
• Treasure Planet
• Oceans
• Cool Runnings
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Even though it may be a bit trickier to schedule, it's well worth the effort to grab some snackages and watch a movie with the kids regardless of how old they are. 

HAPPY STREAMING! 

Use the #StreamTeam hashtag to follow all the Netflix StreamTeam adventures, and Netflix on twitter and facebook for updates and info.

Note: As a Netflix StreamTeam member I receive special perks for my #streamteam participation posts and sharing. All opinions are my own. 

Couple & Family Time #ValentinesDay #FamilyDay #Streamteam @Netflix_CA

Finding Ways to Include Both Family and Couple Time in Your Life.

It's February which means February 14th is Valentine's Day and February 15th is Family Day.

February 14th - Couple Time

After 23 years of marriage it's easy to let Valentine's Day slip by without making time to express our love and affection for each other. The demands of life and time pressures often take priority. But, being together and loving each other for more than a quarter of a century deserves at least some sort of acknowledgement. Certainly after raising two boys aka Thing 1 and Thing 2 together we deserve some couple without the evil offspring. It doesn't need to be a big deal or something fancy, but it should be a thoughtful specific effort. 

Being home-bodies who generally prefer a night in together rather than a night out, ordering take out, a couple of gin and tonics, and watching a movie or show together is a good fit for our Valentine's Day celebrations. Any show in the We Say - Sweet Spot are perfect options and ensure we both equally enjoy what we watch during our time together. Making time for Couple Time was much easier before the kids, aka the "evil offspring", but even so it's important to make time for couple time. 

February 15th - Family Time 

Evolution of the Family Movie Night: Meet my family: Me, Hubby, and Thing 1 (20 year old) and Thing 2 (18 year old). What the offspring watch and what we watch with them has changed since we first started our family movie night tradition when the kids were toddlers. Now that they're older I worry less about what is age appropriate and more about whether I want to sit through it. Never, I repeat never will I be watching Trailer Park Boys or South Park. Never are they going to agree to watch Korean rom-coms or Bollywood movies (actually my husband won't agree to watch those either). So I like to find movies and shows to watch together as a family that appeal to all of us. Throw in some yummy "snackages" and sodas and we have the makings of a great family night in.

Two genres that seem to work well are Comedies and Action. There are many comedies and action movies that have just enough humour, action and a love interest to make the plot interesting for all of us. I call these the "middle ground", and fall somewhere between South Park and Bollywood. Movies without overly graphic violence (for me) or nudity (Awkward! and best not shared with your Mom) seem to work best for family viewing time. It's not that we don't watch other types of movies we each like, we just don't watch them together. Selective family viewing make for happy family viewing.

Coming Soon to Netflix:

Starting February 26th, 2016 you will also be able to stream Fuller House on Netflix. Take a jump forward in time to when the Full House kids are grown and dealing with their own life and parenting challenges, and that is where Fuller House begins. This sequel welcomes many of the Full House characters back, giving us insight into what they've been doing between then and now, and what circumstances lead to an even "fuller house". It's a great show to add to your "Family Fun Night In" streaming list and is perfect for all ages.

Whether as a couple or as a family I hope you find ways

 to make time together with loves ones extra special. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

and 

Happy Family Day!

Yep, just me Cathy thinking out loud about time with the ones I love.

Note: As a member of the Netflix Streamteam I receive Netflix and a streaming device free of charge for the purposes of my Netflix Streamteam posts. All opinions are my own. 

Also, my weekly #W2WW - What to Watch posts are simply something I like to share with readers, and not related to Netflix and my participation in the Streamteam.