A Fuller House, An Empty Nest

This month Netflix is relaunching the Full House sitcom with DJ, Kimmy and Stephanie all grown up in the new series Fuller House. It’s ironic because, as that TV family’s house has grown Fuller, my own is moving toward empty. I reflect on that as I consider what topic I’ll be covering this month as a member of the Netflix Stream Team. I now have one in college, one graduating high school this year and one young man who will be a Senior next year. I know this is the stage where we expect our young adults to prefer not to be around us and our home too often, they’re individuating and exploring the freedom that comes with being 18 or older, but my “children” often surprise me with their requests that we all do something together. I think that is due in part to some of the awesome things my wife did with the kids while I worked nights for so many years, and all those nights we spent observing our version of movie night, called “Daddy’s Picks.”

Here are a couple quick pick lists of family shows- and some, not so “family”-  you can check out with your brood. Selections from the cast of Fuller House!

• TV Time for the Fam: www.netflix.com/familytv
• Steph Tanner Presents “How Rude” TV: www.netflix.com/stephtanner

They say that people learn by repetition and for better, or for worse, what children will come to expect from life and the habits they form will be influenced greatly by what you repeatedly do in the home. That can be both a scary and invigorating thought! I married very young and have seen some hard times and I’ve jokingly (truth is often spoken in jest) told my children that I’ve done the best I can and any other areas I’ve jacked up their lives they can hire a therapist when they’re adults. It’s kind of a running joke in our home when they complain that something is unfair, or wonder why they’re stuck doing some chore. But for all the moments I’ve felt like maybe I’m doing it wrong, or wondered if I made the right decision for my family on some matter, I now see the affects of our family movie nights and how it’s helped cultivate in them a thirst for family time. A tradition I believe they’ll continue in their own homes should they decide to have children.

It’s funny though because I remember being tired from work and not wanting to participate in a certain part of the movie night adventure. My idea of movie night was renting a movie, or finding one on demand, or ordering a Netflix DVD ahead of time, and popping some popcorn but my uber-festive wife liked to make an all-star event of the experience. Everyone was allowed to order from or have food picked up from their favorite place. Even if that meant running to 4 different restaurants – there are 5 of us but I’d just go with whatever I liked at someone else’s spot to save myself a trip. Then, my wife made sure everyone had the dessert they wanted. That could mean another trip to the store, or to Baskin Robbins, or Coldstone’s. I was not a fan of that part of the experience, but I went along because it made everyone happy. I just wanted to get to the part where we were all huddled around the TV watching some great flick from mine or my wife’s childhood though she regularly engaged in that most hallowed of mom traditions and fell asleep during most of the movies – as did my mom before her.

One of the early movies we watched when they were very young was Star Wars: A New Hope. And, growing up, all of their lives I’ve repeated one of Yoda’s quotes to them, “Do. Or do not. There is no try.” Not only did they remember Star Wars but that line actually sunk in.

For Father’s Day, my daughter wanted to get a tattoo with me, so we ended up getting matching Yoda quotes.Click To Tweet That was her idea. I happily complied and, to be honest, that was one of the most memorable moments of my life.
I want to encourage those of you with young children, you who are working ridiculous amounts of hours in a week and are exhausted, that the time and energy you put into your homes and family time is well worth the effort. There will be times with the kids when it seems like they don’t care, or it was for naught, but the deposits you make in their lives will net great dividends as they become adults.

Now that my children are older, I look back on those times and have a fond appreciation for what they did for our family. I also have deep admiration for the nurturer that my wife is and the fact she went out of her way to make sure everyone’s wants were met! I don’t know that I would’ve gone that far with our movie nights if it weren’t for her flair for doing it up big. It’s something I’ll look back on fondly when I’m 115 years old, sitting on my porch sipping tea and yelling at the neighborhood kids to get off my lawn!

Since you’ve stuck around this long, before you get out of here, I thought I’d give you an exclusive sneak peak of Fuller House if you haven’t yet watched it. Check it out!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. As a member of the Netflix Stream Team, I’ve been provided certain perks and compensation for my time and content, but none so earth-shattering as to warrant me selling my soul and peddling poo to you, my reader. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve received some great things, well worth my time, just not worth killing the trust I hope you place in me to create compelling content that makes you want to come back for more. And I treat it all the same, whether it’s compensated or not. If I don’t feel I can leave something of value here, I don’t write it.