Do the dreary days of winter make you feel like crawling in a hole and hibernating? Then spelunking may be the ideal family adventure to consider. Tennessee is home to the largest number of caves in the United States (over 9500). Caving can be extremely dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing. Luckily, many caves open to the …
Family Time Movie Theater: Great Documentaries
There is something mesmerizing and soothing about documentaries, even when you are watching Mother (Parent?) Nature in all her brutality and gore. Who says education is boring? Planet Earth (G, 2006) Breathtakingly beautiful. Fascinating. Educational. View the wonders of the planet we live on. Each of these eleven 50-minute episodes is a masterpiece. No matter your interest, age or attitude, …
A Day at the Museum
Bad weather is the perfect weather for a family trip to the local museum. It is indoors, climate controlled and educational. And, it is not all looking and not touching. Most museums have an interactive area where kids (and even teens) can have a hands-on experience. You may be surprised by the number of museums in your area when you …
Family Time Movie Theater: Dealing with Death
Death doesn’t get addressed in American society. Consequently, we have little help in dealing with the grief that comes from the death of someone you love. This leaves parents with the task of finding ways to help their kids to have an understanding of death and, as importantly, about the importance of grief and grieving. Here is a list of …
Family Time Movie Theater: Dissenting Opinions
Here are some movies that will show your kids how to disagree, and stand up for a principle (and, in one instance, fail dramatically). It’s a Henry Fonda movie-thon! 12 Angry Men (NR, probably PG) Twelve men enter a jury room to determine the guilt or innocence of a teenage boy accused of murder. Initially, only one juror votes not …
Family Time Movie Theater: Healthy Realistic Relationships
Good luck finding movies that portray healthy, long term relationships. Everything is drama and dysfunction or drama and romance. These are a couple of movies that actually portray relationships in a fairly accurate and healthy way. Because they are not romcoms (i.e., romantic comedies) or filled with violence, your kid might not watch them by choice. You may have to …
Family Time Movie Theater: Internet and Social Media
You can use movie night to reveal the influence of the internet on teen’s (and all of our) lives. Here are a couple of documentaries that will raise some issues worth talking about. One is a cautionary tale about how you can be fooled and another is about how the internet and social media can be used to make a …
Family Time Movie Theater: Life Long Learning
There are several aspects of being a lifelong learner your teenager needs to consider. One aspect is the importance of being an informed and educated person, regardless of whether it is directly required by your job. Another aspect is to be prepared for the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune that can occur in the course of your professional life. …
Family Time Movie Theater: Teenage Boys and Dating
Finding good movie role models for teenage boys in dating relationships is not easy. There is so much emphasis on the strict adherence to guy rules (which are bad for emotionally intimate relationships), the overly romanticized characterizations of boys and girls who don’t expect much from their boyfriends. Here are some movies with better guy role models. Pretty in Pink …
Family Time Movie Theater: The Silence of Space
In honor of the Perseid meteor shower that is making it’s spectacular, yearly apperance this month, these movies have a space theme. While there are LOTS of films with this theme, the focus of this list is on (mostly) what humans (or movie characters) have accomplished through bravery, sacrifice and perseverance (because why miss an opportunity to model the nobility …