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Here Are The Wonderful Parts of The Holidays I Really Love

by Team Scary Mommy
Updated: 
Originally Published: 
Happy family taking selfie, shopping for Christmas tree at Christmas market

I have a confession: I’m a holiday grouch. I know, I know, it’s the most WONDERFUL time of the year and all, but I’m one of those moms who gets so overwhelmed with all the tiny details that it’s hard for me to focus on the really special parts of the season. The class parties, the gift exchange planning and the wrapping (where did I put the tape again?!) are all wonderful, but I’d be lying if I said the chaos doesn’t get to me.

I really have no reason to groan over Christmas. I had awesome Christmases growing up in northern NY. I grew up in an actual winter wonderland. My hometown would get so much snow back then, it was nicknamed “SNOWTOWN, USA.” And like most towns, there were holiday parades with candy canes and hot cocoa.

My father owned a nursery and landscaping business that sold Christmas trees so we always had a great, big, fat, glowing tree in our living room and a wood stove that crackled and popped while my brother and I huddled together to watch holiday movies throughout the season.

Luckily for me, my kids love to smoosh onto the couch and watch movies in front of the fireplace, but with a 12-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old son, sometimes it’s hard to find something family-friendly that we all agree on. Well, that was until we discovered Frndly TV.

Frndly is a live TV streaming service that offers feel-good, family viewing starting at just $5.99 per month. And the best part? Frndly TV allows you access to channels you can’t get with typical streaming services like The Outdoor Channel (for the dudes in your life), Game Show Network for (for the trivia lovers), BabyFirst (for the really little ones) and three, yeah, you heard me, THREE different Hallmark Channels!

This is pretty major in my house because I started my kids on Hallmark Channel holiday movies when they were little, so now we tune in for our old favorites AND the new movies they put out each year. We can pop some pre-sliced cookies (because ain’t nobody got time for from-scratch cookies, let’s be real) in the oven and then chill in front of the fire watching happy Hallmark families while we wait to inevitably burn our mouths on those cookies approximately 12-15 minutes later. The small, snow-covered towns in the Hallmark Christmas movies actually remind me (and my kids now) a lot of the town where I grew up.

This year, my kids are pumped to watch Blake Shelton’s Time For You To Come Home For Christmas, the sequel to 2018’s Time For Me To Come Home For Christmas which they loved. And I can’t wait to introduce them to one of MY OWN childhood faves, Dolly Parton, in the all-new Christmas in Dollywood. You can bet there’ll be great music in both.

I also love that Frndly TV knows how busy I am this time of year with cookie exchanges and school holiday concerts, so they give me the option of recording shows we might miss, as well as an On-Demand option for picking and choosing our favorite shows.

When I can catch myself huffing and puffing in front of my kids over the extra-long lines at the toy store, or the piles of holiday cards that need to be addressed, stamped and brought to the post office, I try to remember the simple things that made Christmas so special for me when I was young.

Thanks to Frndly TV, when my kids and I are lucky enough to get a snow day on Long Island, I know right where you’ll find us. On the couch, in front of the fire, watching our favorite family movies together.

Simple. Family-friendly. Uplifting. Get a 7-day FREE trial and see for yourself why Frndly TV is the affordable streaming service that everyone in your house will love. And it starts at just $5.99/mo. Try it now.

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