New Christmas DVDs I'm Waiting For

When I was little, my family had a tradition to go driving around the neighborhood on Christmas Eve and looking at Christmas lights on the houses. While we were out, Santa always delivered our gifts. He didn't fill out stockings at this time - he saved that for the middle of the night while we were sleeping. I was always amazed that Santa could time his visit to deliver our gifts when we were out of the house and it didn't occur to me until years later that we had a very different tradition than most families who had to wait for sleep before Santa delivered anything. When I was little, my parents' explanation of the two visits made perfect sense - Santa delivered the big gifts on his way from the North Pole and he stopped again to deliver our stocking stuffers on his way back to the North Pole. When you're a kid, things like that make sense. It was a wonderful holiday tradition, and one which I still recall fondly.

I have tried to create traditions with my kids, too, and I've incorporate the idea of going out to enjoy the holiday lights into one of our annual traditions. From Thanksgiving until Christmas, we take a short walk after dinner to enjoy all the holiday decorations in our neighborhood. Then we come back to the house, make hot cocoa and watch Christmas specials or DVDs. Here are some of the new Christmas DVDs I'm looking forward to watching this year.

Elf on the Shelf DVD - Elf on the Shelf: An Elf's Story is tops on my list because I love the idea of the Christmas shelf elf and I think this will be a fun movie. It's about an elf who comes to stay with a boy named Taylor who is waffling in his belief in Santa and Christmas magic. Of course, the elf on the shelf has to restore the boy's belief and ensure a happy ending for all.

Ice Age Christmas DVD : The plot for Ice Age:A Mammoth Christmas sounds ridiculous - Sid breaks some of Manny's ornaments; Manny tells Sid he's on Santa's Naughty List; Sid goes to the North Pole and creates chaos; the Arctic herd has to save Christmas. It sounds silly and it probably is. But how can anyone not like anything related to Ice Age?

Disney's Prep and Landing: This movie is new to DVD, but not new. It debuted on TV in 2009 and was replayed again in 2010. But the Disney marketers must have been sleeping because they waited two years to put this one on DVD. Go figure. But it's well worth the wait. The story of an elf bored with his job in the elite "Prep and Landing" unit that prepares houses for Santa's arrival is fresh and funny and is funny enough for everyone in the whole family to enjoy.

We'll also be watching the classics like How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman. But it's wonderful to have some new Christmas DVDs to add to the list.