Friday Pizza Movie Nights

Several years ago, Peter and I began a Thursday night tradition that has transformed literally our week and our marriage. Thursday date night is a time we look forward to every single week. It’s our motivation to hang in there and make it through the first part of the week. I’ve shared before my tips on how to make it doable and affordable, and it’s been so fun as the years have gone by to hear from friends who have taken our idea and now have their own weekly date nights. Just yesterday a therapist proudly told me they’ve successfully had 3 weeks of date nights and her husband was so thankful I encouraged her to give it a try.

Well I’M BACK! This time to motivate you again and hopefully spark an idea into your family routines. Fridays have become just as sacred as Thursdays, a “can’t miss” kind of tradition in our home. Friday Pizza Movie Nights is the one night of the week our kids look forward to and talk about throughout the week.

It doesn’t have to be fancy - we keep the whole evening incredibly simple and it may seem obvious and boring to an outsider. But trust me when I say it’s a highlight for our family. Dinner is always pizza, mostly homemade, although I’ll admit some weeks I’m just too exhausted and we find a coupon for takeout. We eat, chat it up, clean up, lock the doors, close the curtains even before the sun has gone down, put on our pj's, and pull out the bucket of blankets. 

Friday nights feel like a sacred evening of hiding from the world and just being together. Our kids chat throughout the week about what movie is next and look forward to the evening as much or more than we do. Now that we’ve been at this a while, we’ve gone through so many movie series’ together - Harry Potter, all the Marvel movies, just to name a few! Much to my excitement, we’re currently introducing our kids to the Star Trek movies. (Sci-fi nerds over here!) 

I could get all sappy and talk about how the years are flying by and before we know it there won’t be all 6 of us on the couch and under blankets watching a movie together. We all know life is so busy and moves at what feels like lightning speed. For our family, Friday pizza movie night is our “stop the crazy and just be together” kind of tradition.

Here’s just a fun fact about how important these nights have been for our kids - there have been MANY weeks where my kids have TURNED DOWN events with friends because missing Friday nights at home is that important to them. That tells me we’re on to something here. Give it a try! Honestly, these nights have become as non-negotiable as Thursday date nights. We’ll make it happen. 

So here we go. It’s Friday! I still need to buy yeast for the dough and a few toppings. And don’t try to contact us. Our phones will be off, curtains will be pulled, and it’s Star Trek Insurrection for us tonight!

I can’t recommend enough trying a weekly family evening at home. Phones off, no distractions, time with the ones who matter most. Show them how important they really are to you!