How a Cheap Movie Projector Brought My Family Closer

Someone recently told me that there was nothing good about the pandemic that has plagued the globe and that they wished the whole thing had never happened. I thought to myself, "it truly is all about perspective."

I'm not downplaying what a rough year this has been, not in any way, shape, or form. Life has taken more twists and turns than any of us ever imagined. And yet at the same time, there has been good that's come out of these trying months.

People have gotten back to doing things they'd not done in ages like growing their own gardens and canning. Nature flourished and we saw an abundance of animal life roam our neighborhoods. We came up with new ways to celebrate birthdays and other big life events as well as ways to stay in touch with our loved ones. And, families were forced into spending more time together.

One of the things that I craved more than anything in the whole world pre-pandemic was time, alone time, with my husband and son. Before the pandemic, I felt like I was being pulled in so many different directions and constantly in motion with such little time alone with them. The pandemic may have brought more work to my plate, but it has been nice to not have to rush here or there or meet this person or that person on the weekend. I finally had what my heart wanted- weekends alone with my family to create amazing memories.

And create amazing memories, we have. We've played board games and built forts and gone on hikes (sorry again, neighbors for accidentally crossing onto your property- while you were bow hunting- oops!) and created new recipes and my favorite- we bought a projector and started having family movie nights.

Sure, we could plop on the couch and watch movies on our television, but there's something special about making family movie nights an experience. We turn off our cell phones, darken the house, set up an air mattress, pull out every blanket and pillow in the house, and make mounds of popcorn. After our last family movie night, my son hugged me and told me it was the very best night of his life. After this pandemic is behind us, I hope my son looks back fondly and remembers all of the special things we did as a family. And, I hope that my husband and I continue those things once the world opens back up again rather than losing sight of what's most important- our family time.

If you want to make movie nights a thing at your house, even after the pandemic is over but know nothing about projectors, I won't admit to knowing anything about them either but will tell you that we've got really high ceilings and things cheap little thing has worked just fine for us.