How We Choose

There are a lot of movies out in this world.  and by a lot, I mean Millions.  So many in fact, there is no official count.  With all the options, how do I choose which ones to watch, which ones do I purchase, and which ones do I steer clear of??

One really great resource is a website called Kids-In-Mind.  GoodLooking and I have been using this website for at least 3 years and has proven reliable.  It has a number rating system that includes sex and nudity, violence and gore, and language.  Three numbers.  For example one of my favorite movies is Meet The Robinsons.  The KIM rating is 1-3-1.  1 for Sex and Nudity (S&N), 3 for Violence and Gore, and 1 for Language.  The website doesn't stop there... No, No... it continues to tell exactly what the numbers are for. The website says why it gave S&N a 1  "We see a picture of two women in bikinis on a business card. A robot asks a boy to re-create him bulked-up, because the way it is doesn't make the "teapot whistle.""  For Violence here is an example of what it says "A Tyrannosaurus Rex charges toward a house, crashes through a glass wall, picks up a boy in its mouth, an octopus is flung at the dinosaur and it sticks to its head, and the dinosaur is also fired upon by a flying vehicle that shoots pizza dough; the dinosaur catches the vehicle in its mouth and chews on it, and it chases the boy and snaps at him.  (it has 14 mentions of violence another being when the boys fight in the flying car and it crashes) and for Language it says "1 mild scatological term, name-calling (stupid, crazy, flathead, short roots, bozos, evergreen, geek, smarty pants, dumb), 1 exclamation (shove it, what the…), an exclamation is written out as @!!*^#.   Very detailed and you can get a good idea about what to expect.


Another source would be ratings (like P or PG)  I find this to not be as reliable because you don't know why it gets a certain rating.  Like Lord of the Rings is rated PG-13 and I like those movies.  On KIM you will find that they are PG-13 because of violence (receiving a rating of 1-7-1).  I would not like them  if it was rated that way because of S&N.  I just looked at some movies and anything with a 7 in S&N gets an R and I do NOT watch R rated movies.  Another reason is I feel that some directors take the movie to the max of a rating.  They don't want an R rating so they ride an element up to the limit to receive the PG-13.  Then (if I have not consulted KIM) I am sitting in a PG-13 feeling uncomfortable.  But I still use this source because I know I am safer if I at least steer clear of R ratings.


That is all I have on that.  Another thing I wanted to say is PG-13 is for 13 and up.  Media affects the way we act, think, and speak.  
I just thought of another thing.  PG-13 is the (gray) area between (white) PG and (black) R.  The question is: is it black with drops of white OR white with drops of black? 

What a Blessing

Last week we all went to Arizona so Honey* could be blessed.  In the week (or rather months) leading up to the trip, I was very nervous about having her on the plane for 4 hours breathing in everyone else's air and just generally getting all those germs on her.  The flight there, she slept pretty much the whole way and cried a little bit when she was hungry (but I was ready with a pumped bottle).

We had a great time IN Arizona except for poor little Honey getting allergies and drying up.  When we landed in Arizona we went to Globe to see GoodLooking's sister play basketball then home to his house.
Thursday, we went to the Temple and out to lunch (we got a gift certificate Christmas of 2010 but couldn't use it because the place was closed due to plumbing problems).  Then just hung out and recovered from the long travel.

Friday morning, we went to my parent's house and hung out and went to my favorite Mexican place (thanks mom and dad!).
Saturday, GoodLooking took his nephew to the zoo and then we drove back to GoodLookings house.  Me, my parents, some cousins, and aunt and uncle went to another mexican place for dinner.  It was my aunts birthday and she got Honey a gift (how kind).  It was a cute book with fun stories to read to her.

Sunday, we visited and went to church to bless Honey.  It was a great day at church but was really windy outside.  Honey was really stuffed up in the nose and screaming for most of it so ended up going to my aunts house that is across the street.  We got a humidifier for Honey and that seemed to help a lot.
Monday, we just hung out and had Family Home Evening.

Tuesday, we went to Phoenix to come back to Hotlanta.  The flight had about 30 people on it so we could sit wherever we wanted.  We were supposed to sit on the side with just two seats but we chose to sit on the side with three and Honey slept between us for most of the flight.  She was a bit more fussy but it was fine because there were only 3 people within 10 rows either direction of us.

All in all, Honey is a pretty good baby.

*While in Arizona, GoodLookings mom was explaining how you pronounce her middle name in spanish (Hawnay) and it came to me.  Honey.  (her middle name is pronounced a little different than Honey but I like it so that is who she is)