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December 14, 2025 • 10 mins

Christmas chaos creeping in? This episode dives into the magic of festive films—and how they can buy you a precious pocket of peace. Justin and Kylie share their top kid-friendly Christmas movies (and a few grown-up gems), the surprising stories behind them, and why the right film at the right moment can reset the whole family. Perfect for parents who want joy, calm, nostalgia…and maybe a chance to wrap presents without being ambushed.

KEY POINTS

  • Why Christmas feels like a tug-of-war between calm and chaos—and how movies can soften the edges.
  • Top kid-friendly Christmas films that uplift, entertain, and keep kids happily occupied.
  • The unexpected origins and charm behind Klaus, Arthur Christmas, and more.
  • Classics that still land for teens (Home Alone, The Santa Clause).
  • Honourable mentions for grown-ups—yes, even the ones Justin hasn’t watched yet.
  • A gentle reminder to pause and reconnect with the meaning of Christmas, whatever your family’s traditions.

QUOTE OF THE EPISODE

"When your kids are in your arms, they can’t possibly be underfoot."

RESOURCES MENTIONED

ACTION STEPS FOR PARENTS

  1. Choose one new Christmas movie to watch together this week—something uplifting and connection-building.
  2. Pick a “parent break” movie (a solid, guilt-free screen-time choice) to occupy the kids while you wrap, prep, or recharge.
  3. Consider a short nativity or values-focused film to spark meaningful family conversations.
  4. Keep your movie list saved for the entire month to avoid decision overwhelm on busy days.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's The Happy Family's.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Podcast, Merry Christmas, You're fealthy animal, and.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
The Oscar goes to, oh my god, seeing here, I
know him. Well. Christmas is just around the corner. Have
you noticed, Kylie, there's this switch between where in one
breath we're relaxed and the then next breath we're stressed,
like we're trying to slow things down because everyone's going

(00:34):
on holidays, but there's so much to do. There's so
much going on.

Speaker 3 (00:37):
I just want to slow down. I'm not doing anything.
I'm just hoping the kids are all going to catch
up with me.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
There's a favorite quote mine. Yeah, that's right, there's a
favorite quote of mind that and it's particularly pertinent at
this point of the year when your kids are in
your arms they can't possibly be underfoot, because a lot
of parents at the moment saying other kids is just
under my feet all the time, and I'm trying to
get stuff and they're sitting around staring at screens and
doing nothing. We have got some solutions, by the way,

(01:04):
I'm justin your kilie, parents of six kids. Happy families
dot com dot you, the Happy Families podcast is bringing
you some solutions for Christmas. Joy Christmas Bliss. I know
that not everybody wants their kids to be watching screens
all the time, but the reality is sometimes you kind
of just have to right just to get through and
keep saying. So we've compiled, well, how do you.

Speaker 3 (01:27):
Get the presents wrapped if they're not staring at a screen?

Speaker 1 (01:30):
You got to stay up late. Then you're tired the
next day and cranky. So we have compiled a list
of our top I was going to say top five,
but there's no way we're going to. Last time we
talked favorite movies, we ended up having like Poor Od Jr.
Our producer. Instead of doing our top five movies for
whatever it was, we ended up doing like thirty. So

(01:50):
supposedly this is going to be our top five Christmas
movies for the kids, although I think we're going to
veer into some adult ones as well, to help your
family to have a happy Christmas, but also so that
you can some peace and quiet. The kids can be
watching Christmas, everyone can be getting into the spirit of Christmas.
Christmas music can be on. That's where we're going today.
Everyone can be baking gingerbread.

Speaker 3 (02:13):
Hell, everyone, are you gonna bake ginger bread?

Speaker 1 (02:16):
I was gonna say, how unrealistic is what I just said.
I've gone for the nostalgia, the romanticized version of what's happening.
So let's talk about Christmas movies before we g rated one,
before we get to sidetracked with all that sort of stuff. Kylie,
if you were to pick your all time favorite family
Christmas movie, what would it be?

Speaker 3 (02:34):
I would have, once upon a time said the Polar Express.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
Well you're coming.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
Where?

Speaker 1 (02:43):
Why?

Speaker 2 (02:43):
To the North Pole? Of course?

Speaker 1 (02:45):
This is the whole Express. Yeah, we used to love
that film.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
But last year, when we watched a movie a night
for each day leading up to Christmas, we got introduced
to so many new movies. And I now have a
few favorites.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
By the way, just before you talk about your favorites,
I think it's worth highlighting that we took on more
than we could handle by saying let's watch one Christmas
movie each day with the kids or each night. That
was exhausting. I couldn't stand it. It was just too
much TV and too many things to do. Anyway, we
did it, and now you've got a whole new list
of favorites.

Speaker 3 (03:20):
And we can thank our staff for that because they
actually introduced us to a couple that have now become
literally my top three.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
Okay, so number one I'm gonna say Klaus, Mister Klaus,
you have a gift you were meant from making toys.
Oh yeah, okay, so that's a Netflix special.

Speaker 3 (03:39):
You know the background behind klausse that because it was
such an untraditional story, DreamWorks and Disney wouldn't.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
Pick it up, right, So for Netflix, Netflix got an
unlimited budget. Let's do whatever we want.

Speaker 3 (03:52):
And I just love the take on the Christmas story
that this movie portrays.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
So for those of you who haven't seen it, there's
a boy who's being raised by a rich dad. Rich
dad's very cranky at the boy. It's a cartoon by
the way, because he's entitled and selfish and rich dad
owns like the postal system in their country, so he
sends his son to the most far reaching outposts.

Speaker 3 (04:14):
Smehrenberg. It's labeled the saddest place on Earth, and you
see it in the depiction of the animation. Everything's just
great hate.

Speaker 1 (04:23):
What do you guys think you're doing? This is Smirnsburg,
the unhappiest police on Earth, and there are two warring
families who just hate each other and there is no
postage service there like nobody actually, no one writes a letter.
Everybody hates each other. And it's the story of how
this young man, well, it's a coming of age and
it's a hero story. He saves the town, he becomes

(04:46):
a person who falls in love with the spirit of
Christmas and changes everything. It's a great movie.

Speaker 3 (04:51):
My second one is going to be Arthur Christmas.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
Oh hello, Phil El's jingle Jingle, Jingle, Tim eighteen point
one four second crowns life.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
We've got a staff member, Elizabeth, who told us how
great the Christmas was, and it was. It was an
absolute joy. We made this. I survive, I'll walk home,
I'll get a boat, but I am never getting back
in that crazy flying death trap ever again.

Speaker 3 (05:23):
I just I loved it. Here's this kid, he's Santa Claus,
his son, and he just loves Christmas. But he gets
in the way, is it glutz everything? But he ended
up actually saving Christmas this time.

Speaker 1 (05:35):
What's your third one?

Speaker 2 (05:36):
Okay, people, tomorrow morning to damn Santa's coming down?

Speaker 1 (05:42):
Oh my god, Santa here else? I know him so
much fun.

Speaker 3 (05:48):
I probably would never ever have watched this. It has
will Farrell and I don't really like him very much
as an actor, and I probably wouldn't have put it
in as a kid's movie as a result of him
being in it.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
He's absurd, He's absolutely ridiculously over the top absurd.

Speaker 3 (06:05):
You stink.

Speaker 1 (06:06):
I think you're gonna have a good Christmas like beef
and cheese. You don't smell Xander. Okay, that's what makes
it so delight so good. So are there any other
great kids Christmas movies that you think we should mention?
Because that's only three. I said we were going to
do like our top five.

Speaker 3 (06:27):
I don't think you can go past a Christmas movie
list without giving a mention to Home Alone.

Speaker 1 (06:33):
I made my family disappear.

Speaker 3 (06:38):
We all grew up with that movie, and it still
has to be on the top. I'd say top ten movies.

Speaker 1 (06:45):
Ever great slapstick comedy, and our children, even our teenagers,
watch that and laugh their heads off. Harry, I'm on,
Perry Mount, come on get me, you guys, give up.

Speaker 2 (07:02):
You're thirsty for more.

Speaker 3 (07:03):
And the last one I'm going to mention would be
Santa Claus with Tim Allen.

Speaker 2 (07:07):
What you put on a little week a little weight?
Does this look like a little weight.

Speaker 1 (07:11):
To you wait can fluctuate from you to ear fluctuate
you make it sound like and retaining water.

Speaker 2 (07:18):
I've given forty five pounds in a week.

Speaker 3 (07:21):
Here's this guy who single handedly destroys Christmas by interrupting
Santa as he's trying to go down at chimney and.

Speaker 1 (07:29):
He falls off the roof her Santa or tim Ellen
Santa okay.

Speaker 3 (07:39):
And so his son sees it all happenings. You have
literally killed Christmas.

Speaker 1 (07:45):
Killed Sannah.

Speaker 3 (07:47):
So much fun.

Speaker 1 (07:48):
After the break, we're going to talk about a handful
of other Christmas movies that may or may not suit
the whole family, but you as a parent might really enjoy.

Speaker 3 (07:57):
It's the Happy Families Podcast, and hopefully today we've given
you a few options to keep the kids occupied so
you can do your.

Speaker 1 (08:13):
Centering if that's necessary.

Speaker 3 (08:16):
Wink quink.

Speaker 1 (08:17):
So there's a couple of movies that we didn't mention
that I think need an honorable recognition. The first one
is Christmas Chronicles.

Speaker 2 (08:26):
Damn.

Speaker 1 (08:29):
And a snow.

Speaker 2 (08:30):
It's the following on the ground.

Speaker 1 (08:33):
Now. You actually were putting it on your list and
I said, ah, you know it's not really that good.
You're a trick ster.

Speaker 3 (08:38):
You just did it so you can have it on yours.

Speaker 1 (08:40):
No, no, no, it's not what happened. What actually happened
was that we watched the We watched the trailer, and
I was like, oh, that is a really good movie.
I did enjoy that movie quite a lot. And of
course there are a couple of other movies that again
Christmas confession. Not only have I not seen The Santa clause,
I haven't seen Bad Center, what about The Rain Deer?

Speaker 3 (08:57):
Would you please shut up about Reindeer?

Speaker 1 (08:59):
And I haven't seen The Holiday.

Speaker 2 (09:01):
You're not Irish, or if you are, I'm much dronker
than I realized.

Speaker 1 (09:05):
But everybody says that those must watch grown up movies
for Christmas.

Speaker 3 (09:10):
So I guess we're going to have few movie nights then.

Speaker 1 (09:13):
I still don't know if I want to watch them,
to be honest, but everyone's been saying, you've got to
talk about those movies. They're amazing. So we've talked about
them even though we haven't seen them. Is that cheating?

Speaker 3 (09:21):
That's so cheating. Seriously, I hope you don't get in trouble.
You don't even know what's in them.

Speaker 1 (09:26):
On top of that, though, I think we've got to acknowledge, well,
Christmas is not a time of faith for everybody. There
are a lot of people who listen to the podcast,
and there are millions upon millions, tens of millions of
people around the world who do have a religious faith.
And there are some really wonderful, religiously oriented, faith producing,
faith promoting movies about the Nativity. Different churches have them,

(09:46):
They're available online, they're often free, and I think that
sometimes it's nice to just pause and say this is meaningful,
even if it's not your religious faith, to talk to
the kids about what the background is. Find one of
the short ones, the ten or twenty minute ones that
just step through it. I think that that can help
to appreciate what Christmas is all about for millions and
millions of people around the world. We really hope that
you've enjoyed the Happy Families podcast today and that it's

(10:09):
given you a little bit of inspiration or just some
nice reminiscence about how good the entertainment can be around
Christmas time. We hope that these movies inspire you and
your family to goodness and kindness and service and fun
for this Christmas. The Happy Families Podcast is produced by
Justin Roulin from Bridge Media and if you'd like more

(10:30):
information about making a family happier across Christmas, we did
a really well received webinar called tis the Season to
Be Cranky? But there's also another webinar called how to
Unspoil Your Kids This Christmas. They're both available in the
Happy Families Store at Happy families dot com dot.

Speaker 2 (10:45):
A Merry Christmas. You're fealthy Animal,
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