I was so excited that my husband had to work late tonight. Let me explain.

I looooove Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I don’t know what it is, whether it’s the brashness of Yukon Cornelieus or the sexually career-confused Hermey, but it’s hands-down my favorite holiday movie.

My husband hates it. Like I think it actually makes his skin crawl. He despises it. Needless to say, I didn’t want E.’s first viewing of it to be tainted by his anti-Rudolphism.

After I picked her up from school, we rushed home, opened the first day on her Advent Calendar (btw, it’s extraordinarily hard to explain to a 2-year-old why they can only open 1 out of 24 squares. There’s no way that thing lasts the full month) and cozied up in our rocking chair for a little holiday magic.

It was slow going. She liked Sam the snowman but she was fixated on trying to figure out why Donner would  put dirt on Rudolph’s nose. When I explained that reindeer are supposed to have black noses, not red ones, she spent the next 10 minutes counting the black noses. Future Census worker?

(And can I have a sidebar here — I forgot that Santa is kind of a jackass in this movie. First he rips the elves’ song, which is all about him, and then he turns on Donner, saying he’s ashamed of him for trying to pass off Rudolph as normal. Isn’t this the guy that’s supposed to love all the children in the world? I’m a little disappointed that this was E’s first real introduction to Santa)

But all was still going good and she seemed to be really into it, and then we met the Abominable Snow Monster. Dum. Dum. Dum (try and use your best dramatic music voice here). At first she wasn’t that scared of him, but once she realized that Rudolph and Hermy were scared, so was she. She insisted on sitting on my lap for the rest of the movie (which I loved, so I’m not complaining). But as soon as that hairy beast is redeemed at the end, she was all about the movie.

In fact, when DadJovi got home and asked her what her favorite part was, she said, “When that scary monster became nice and put the star on the tree.”

So, all in all, I’d say it was a success and I hope it’s started a new tradition for us. It also reminded me that there are so many movies I can’t wait to watch with her as she gets older, including:

• Wizard of Oz
• ET
• White Christmas
• Christmas Vacation
• Uncle Buck (right, BroJovi?)
• Star Wars
• The Sound of Music

And when she’s MUCH older:

• Dirty Dancing
• Pretty Woman
• and, of course, The Big Lebowski

Have you watched any of your favorite movies with your kids yet or even your significant other? I remember being SO excited when I finally convinced DadJovi to watch Gone With the Wind (one of my all-time favorites when I was a kid) for the first time. He didn’t HATE it, so I considered that a success.

What did your kids think of your favorites? What other movies should I add to my “required mother-daughter viewing” list?