I love Halloween, and before I became a mom Halloween was all about blood and gore and endless marathons of scary movies! But ever since we welcomed Aria into the world, I had to tone down my enthusiasm for Halloween by, like, 99 percent! I can’t wait until she’s old enough to appreciate the fine art of applying fake blood, but until then, as much as I love Halloween, I’m not about to give my toddler nightmares and scar her for life the way I scarred myself for life by convincing my mom that “It” was an appropriate movie for an 8-year-old because it’s about a clown…

Here’s a list of kid-friendly Halloween movies that are still entertaining for adults. Or, at least, that will send you trick-or-treating down nostalgia lane.

Linus waits in the pumpkin patch for the elusive Halloween symbol to appear.

Hotel Transylvania

When monsters want to get away from it all, they go to Count Dracula’s (Adam Sandler) Hotel Transylvania, a lavish resort where they can be themselves without humans around to bother them. On one special weekend, Dracula invites creatures like the Invisible Man, the Mummy, and others to celebrate the 118th birthday of his daughter, Mavis (Selena Gomez). However, an unforeseen complication unfolds when an ordinary human unwittingly crashes the party and falls in love with Mavis.

Toy Story of Terror!

When Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the toys stop at a motel, Mr. Potato Head goes missing. As the gang looks for him, they find themselves caught up in a mysterious series of events.

Frankenweenie

Young Victor Frankenstein is a science nerd and outsider at school, but he does have one good friend: his dog, Sparky. But then, tragedy strikes and Sparky shuffles off this mortal coil. Victor is heartbroken, but his science teacher gives him an idea of how to jolt old Sparky back to life. The experiment is successful, and all goes well until Victor’s fellow students steal his secret and use it to resurrect other dead animals – with monstrous consequences

The Addams Family

When a man claiming to be Fester, the missing brother of Gomez Addams, arrives at the Addams’ home, the family is thrilled. However, Morticia begins to suspect the man is a fraud since he cannot recall details of Fester’s life. With the help of lawyer Tully Alford, Fester manages to get the Addams clan evicted from their home. Gomez realizes the two men are conspiring to swindle the Addams fortune and that he must challenge Fester.

Coco

Despite his family’s generations-old ban on music, young Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead. After meeting a charming trickster named Héctor, the two new friends embark on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel’s family history.

Spooky Buddies

In a race against a no-good hound, the Buddies and their new friends, Pip, Zelda, Rodney, and Skip, must stop Warwick the Warlock and save the world from his dastardly deeds.

Monsters, Inc.

Monsters Inc. is the largest scare factory in the monster world, and James P. Sullivan is one of its top scarers. Sullivan is a huge, intimidating monster with blue fur, large purple spots, and horns. His scare assistant, best friend, and roommate is Mike Wazowski, a green, opinionated, feisty little one-eyed monster. Visiting from the human world is Boo, a tiny girl who goes where no human has ever gone before.

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

The characters from a series of animated shorts, Wallace and his dog, Gromit, make their feature debut here. After starting a pest control business, the duo soon lands a job from the alluring Lady Tottington to stop a giant rabbit from destroying the town’s crops. Both Wallace and the stuffy Victor vie for the lady’s affections. If Wallace wants to please his pretty client, and best Victor, he needs to capture that pesky bunny.

Images: IMDB

You’ve got kids, you run the house, and you may also have a day job on top of all that. Plus, there’s play dates, school conferences, and you’ve got to make time for your friends too, so in the midst of such full schedules, when is there time to date the person you chose to start a family with? After all, don’t you see each other every night and share a bathroom? How much closer can we get than that?

But chances are, you probably know that being in the same room as your spouse can hardly mean quality time for your relationship. It takes a little more effort on both your parts, to keep cultivating your connection to each other to ensure you stay on the same page. That’s where the whole idea of Date Night with your spouse comes in.

Let me beat you to the punch before you protest by countering your point that as expats living overseas in a foreign city, we hardly have the luxury of in-laws, family, or neighbors as babysitters. It can even be challenging to find a trusted babysitter if you don’t have a regular ayi.

Here are a few solutions to help with that:

1. Organise a sleepover for the kids at their friends’ houses
2. Do a swap with family friends to see if they’ll watch your kids for one night, and you watch theirs in return!
3. Have your date during the day instead (Surprise them at work and bring them out for a walk outside on a beautiful afternoon)
4. As a final resort, you can also put together a simple date night at home after the kids are at school or asleep (just be sure you’re doing more than Netflix and chill, actually spend time talking or being with each other!)

Erin C, who has been married for a decade and has three daughters, squeezes time for a date with her husband Giuseppe at least once a month, which is “essential for sanity, marriage, and seeing the city from a different angle, literally” She elaborates, “I had no idea how different touring the Forbidden City would be without a stroller!”

She doesn’t put too much emphasis on planning these date nights, oftentimes just winging it without a reservation or advance notice. But she does stress that “It’s important both parents feel happy to be out that night. That’s why sometimes things can’t be planned in advance, and if there is a new baby involved, both need to be ready to [step away without being]stressed. But it’s also important for one partner to kind of nudge the other partner out the door sometimes, even just for a date walk (15 minutes) and then longer as you can.”

Their dates help Erin feel “Refreshed. Rekindled. Reconnected as something other than parents, which is ridiculously important.”

Some of Erin’s previous successful date nights include bowling at 东环保龄球馆 (Dōng huán bǎolíngqiú guǎn) and hanging out at their neighborhood jazz club. Whatever you choose to do, be present, keep devices to a minimum and try not to discuss any family logistical matters like groceries, or budgeting, or anything on your to-do lists.

Want to put the romance back in your relationship? We’ve put together some other non-dining Date Night Ideas –

Couples Spa 

There are so many spa places that offer a couples room, usually with advance booking. A personal recommendation if you’ve got the budget for it would be the Dragonfly at Kerry Center. You can do facials, body massages, and more! Or you can opt for a pair of masseuses to come to your place if you prefer to keep things intimate by using this home spa app.

Movies

Yes, there are international films in English (albeit with Chinese subtitles) at many of the bigger cinema chains. You can look up the nearest cinema to you and the films that are playing through the following steps on WeChat. The key here is to recognize the two words circled in the last photo 英语 which means the film is in English! Oh, and just for tonight, at Baby Boom Bar, they’re showing a triple feature of you guessed it, horror films.

Walking Tours

There’s no better way to get to know the city you live in than to walk around it and explore its nooks and crannies. Companies such as Beijing Postcards, Beijing By Foot, Our Beijing, The Hutong and many others regularly conduct walking tours of various historical sights in the capital. With Halloween coming up, you might even consider a Haunted Walking Tour with Bizarre Beijing, if you dare.

Arcades 

Remember Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja? Play them in person at VS Sports Park with their virtual reality games that pit you against your spouse, or get you to team up to work cooperatively. Check out editor Mina Yan’s blog and video of the place here.

KEEP READING: QiXi Love Stories: After 33 Days of Online Chatting and a First Date, the Rest is History

Images: Unsplash, Pexels, Vivienne Tseng-Rush

Heartwarming movies during cold months are usually the perfect recipe to keep the winter blues at bay, and there’s no better way to do this and keep the little ones occupied this weekend than with a family movie night!

Beijing International Christian Fellowship (BICF) will play host to Beijing families this Saturday November 10 with a screening of Babe, the much loved movie about a pig who learns to herd sheep. The KidCity team invite parents and kids to join them on this farmyard adventure and learn lessons about friendship and courage. There will also be fun fall games, a bouncy castle, dinner, and seasonal treats.

The team at BICF has been working with parents and families to provide inspiration and a support network for moms with their Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPs) network and programs. These include monthly meetings where moms gather to connect and listen to guest speakers, who touch on family-related subjects such as sharing practical ways to improve family dynamics. During the school year, parents can attend and benefit from the childcare that is provided.

They also offer space to partake in activities and in-depth discussion, where moms can get to grips with shared experiences and be encouraged to make family life more meaningful and fun. The fun aspect of family life is being facilitated with initiatives such as this movie night.

During their December meeting, participating mothers with small businesses will also be given the opportunity to promote what they have on offer, in preparation for the busy festive period. These and other fun-filled, family-oriented happenings will be certain to add some color and variation to the weeks ahead.

For now though, register and head on down to the 21st Century Hotel at 4pm this Saturday with the family for what we’re sure will be an awesome evening of squeals, laughter, and the patter of little trotters. To register and find out more about this and other events contact children@bicf.org.

Photos: Pixabay, courtesy of organizers

Last time we looked at four classical animations to have withstood the test of technology advancement and time. The movies are a generational hand me down that gets people to fall in love with them. The first part looked at animations that were released before 2000. In this second part we give you four more to watch for movie night that were released after 2000.

Monsters, Inc. (2001)
So the stories about the boogie man is told through the use of big, totally lovable fur balls doing their job of sourcing their energy source from screaming children. This animation makes it easier for parents to try distorting the conception of monsters lurking in the closet. The characters Sully and Boo bring the story to life through the display of affection scenes. Boo wreaking havoc is sure to have people chuckling. This movie is rated G.

Chicken Run (2000)
The adults are sure to enjoy this movie since it has puns galore, "It’s raining hen," that can be translated back to everyday use. With a gang of chicken dreaming to escape before they become chicken pie (note: if you like chicken pies this might not be the movie for you). The use of rubber chickens instead of the sketches gives this movie that extra special feel and difference from animations that humanize animals. This movie is rated G.

Finding Nemo (2003)
For years on end, the press comes alive with news of a sequel to this classic hitting the cinemas till then get your fill of this timeless animation. This animated underwater adventure is a genuinely funny  and touching as a father and son try to get back to each other. Father and son get separated in the Great Barrier Reef with son- Nemo finding himself in a dentist’s office. The timeless animation revolves around a father’s epic journey to find his son with the help of a friend. This movie is rated G. 

Shrek I and II (2001 and 2004)
This movies turns the notion of fairy-tale princesses and happily ever after on its head. The movie has loads to farting humor, burping for the kids to enjoy and teaching lesson that inner beauty can triumph over outer beauty. Donkey, keeps the story going as he blurts all his thoughts and feelings. Shrek joins the exclusive club of having sequels become instant classic despite the last one leaving us begging not to have a fourth made. These movies are rated PG.

Photos courtesy of cloudfront.net, movieposter.com, rogererbert.com and sau56.org