There is still Halloween candy in my house and there are quite a few leaves still clinging to the branches outside. Thanksgiving is weeks away, but in my heart (and on my television) it’s Christmas time.
I’m ready for the decor. I’m ready for the music. I’m ready for the movies. To me, the holiday season just isn’t long enough if I wait until after Thanksgiving to start decking my halls and blasting Christmas music.
I Can’t Get Enough of Them
While some people may think I overdose on Christmas, I can’t get enough of it. I want that kind of happy, positive energy in my life for as long as possible. Which is why I’m all in as soon as the Hallmark Channel starts playing Christmas movies in late October. Oh, and PSA: This year there are 22 new movies!
Yes, my love of all things Christmas drives my three teenagers crazy. No, I do not care. To me, there is no greater escape than settling in to watch a festive movie. Even if it is just a fantasy.
With three busy kids in my house, the soothing voices of characters engaging in holiday traditions like baking cookies and ice skating is such a welcoming sound that I will have the TV on constantly from now until the new year. It doesn’t matter if I’m actually watching it. Just listening to these movies while I do tedious household chores is a delight. I don’t even get ready in the morning without tuning in so I can listen while I apply my face for the day. My kids know better than to change the channel when Mama’s Hallmark movies are on.
I Love Hallmark Christmas Movies
Hallmark has, by far, the most aesthetically pleasing movies ever made. Every home is decorated in a way that makes me want to go all out on my own decorations. Every tree is aglow and no foliage is spared. Even if a car goes off the road, somehow every pine tree in the woods is illuminated. It would cost a fortune in real life to pay for all of those twinkle lights and candles lining the streets, but anything is possible in a Hallmark movie.
Sure, the plot lines are predictable, but that is one of the things I like best about them. I have enough surprises thrown my way these days—I want to revel in happy storylines that are neatly resolved in two hours or less. But these movies I love aren’t just happy, they are dipped in charm and rolled in magic. They exude joy—and it’s contagious.
Everything works out for everyone in a Hallmark movie. If a woman loses her job and boyfriend in the same day, she will soon meet a royal prince who will fall in love with her. A woman who has been too focused on her career to fall in love and settle down will bump into a handsome widower with a child at the local store. By the end of the movie, they will be kissing while the snow falls, destined to live happily ever after.
There are those who require their movies to have more of a plot, or some action and intrigue. I am not one of those people. Hallmark movies allow me to rest my mind and soothe my soul.
All I need is a blanket and a glass of wine and my stress melts away as soon as the Hallmark Channel logo comes into focus on my television screen.
This is the one time of the year when I take control of the television and I don’t care if my kids complain, “We’ve already watched this movie four times.” These delicious Christmas-themed movies are a form of therapy for me and I won’t apologize for treating myself. Since I’m the one who makes sure my kids get the gifts they want on Christmas morning, I’m afraid they will just have to make the sacrifice and put up with my Hallmark movie addiction—at least until New Year’s Day.
