Clear your family’s calendar… or set your DVRs: A Charlie Brown Christmas is airing on the ABC network at 8pm (EST) tonight!
In the Vollmer family, we clear the calendar and sit down to watch this special—which first aired in December 1965— as a family on live TV despite our ability to record it on a DVR, watch it On Demand, or walk over to our DVD collection and pluck the special out of the cabinet.
Why?
I think it harkens back to when my husband and were both younger, before the days of VCRs, DVDs, TiVo, and On Demand, when we’d have to endure all the commercials. Our families would seriously plan for the evening with Charlie Brown, Snoopy decorating his doghouse, and all the gaping wide open mouths singing “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” We make our sons endure it in real-time so they have the same experience we did.
My favorite part is when Linus decorates the tree. In fact, my husband has a replica of the tree for his office, complete with a little blue Linus blanket to keep it warm.
Want to modernize the experience? Why not set your kids up with the A Charlie Brown Christmas interactive app available from the iTunes store? GeekMom Amy reviewed the app in 2011 and highly recommended it.
Who else plans a family evening around A Charlie Brown Christmas on TV? What’s your favorite scene from the show? Are there other shows you watch together?
Watched it last night… and yes, we have the tree too!