#SOL21 It's a Wonderful Life

When I was younger, I always had specific holiday movies on rotation that I watched every year. There was a Muppet Family Christmas that we recorded from television (this was the late 80's) that was always one of my favorites. Fozzy Bear and all the Muppets headed to his mom's farmhouse to suprise her for Christmas. Meanwhile, she was headed to a tropical vacation right before they showed up at her door. I've tried to find this special on Amazon and elsewhere but it doesn't seem to be anywhere anymore! I must have watched it hundreds of times growing up.

Another favorite- that I can watch still today!- was Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas. Emmett and his mother singing and their Gift of the Magi storyline had all the feels for the holiday season. 

My other favorites included White Christmas (my sister and I can still recreate the "Sisters" number), Christmas Vacation (so funny), Miracle on 34th Street (just watched this with my daughter this year), Charlie Brown's Christmas (that little tree!), and of course, the Grinch. But a holiday classic that always stands out is It's a Wonderful Life. 

Last Saturday, my son Alex watched this movie with me. Alex likes heartwarming things and I thought he would really enjoy it. Megan fell asleep halfway through, but Alex made it all the way to the end. He felt so bad when George Bailey kept giving up his dreams to go to college and see the world. When everyone came rushing in at the end to pour money into the basket for George, Alex had the biggest smile. I was so happy to share it with him. 

Thinking about the movie a little more, I pulled out a few lessons to be learned from It's a Wonderful Life:

-The bad guy doesn't always lose or get justice: Mr. Potter is never found out to have taken the 8,000 from Uncle Billy. There is no specific comeuppance for him. He's ignored at the end of the movie. The viewer is left to come up with his/her own evaluation of Mr. Potter, who while he was rich certainly did not have a "wonderful life". No friends or family- just money mattered to Mr. Potter. 

-Even the best of us have bad days: George Bailey was a quiet hero and a person of integrity and kindness. But on his worst day, when he thought the 8,000 was gone and he was facing bankrupcy and jail, he made mistakes. He yelled at his uncle, snapped at his children, scolded a teacher, drank too much. He was human. We all are. Bad days and bad moments happen, but it's still a "wonderful life." 

-We can't always see the ripple effect we've caused: Clarence and Joseph could zoom out and see George's whole life and all the people he helped and how that had a positive ripple effect on the entire town. When George gets the gift of seeing what would have happened if he had never been born, everything is different and worse. We don't have Clarences in our lives to show us how we've made a difference. As teachers, we might never know how the seeds we've planted bloom. We don't know how our actions have hopefully led our students (and our family and friends) to something good and positive. We just keep planting and sowing seeds of kindness, love of learning, and character. Wouldn't it be cool, if when our time came to leave this earth, we had a Clarence who could show us the ways we've made a difference? George never once expected his friends and family to show up for him the way they did at the end- he just did all the right things anyway because it's who he was. And so for us too- we keep trying to do the right things. We can only hope to be George Bailey's in our own lives. 

​Do you have any favorite holiday movies? What classics always are on your rotation come December?