Netflix Day 2/ Day 3

So yesterday we told the kids that we are transitioning from DirecTV to Netflix and their reaction wasn't at all what we expected. I expected tears, drama, and cries of dissent, instead the conversation went like this, (me) "hey kids I have bad news. We're not going to have DirecTV soon." (my 9 yr old son excitedly asks) "Are we getting Netflix instead???" So apparently the word is out among 9 yr old that Netflix is the way to go, am I that behind the times as a woman in my EARLY 30's? They were ecstatic about the prospect of having anything their heart's desired at the push of a button. John & I set up a few shows that we knew they liked as well as a few from our childhood that we thought they would enjoy (He-Man, She-Ra, Pink Panther, etc). Turns out the first thing they asked to watch was "Pippy Longstocking"; we just finished listening to that story in the car. In fact they are watching it again as I type this.

We were playing around with the search menu last night to see more of what is offered and it turns out that quite a few titles weren't available for immediate watching... that has been a bit of a disappointment for us. I'm not sure if we can order the DVD's to be sent to our house or if they just arent streaming anymore. According to my logic, those titles are still on there so they must be available somewhere, however my logic rarely equates to what is reality. haha!

Netflix offers parental control so that you have to type a code (which you create) in order to even access the main page. This is cool however I am hoping there are more in-depth controls that restrict what the kids can watch according to the ratings. I can already tell that having to type in the code each and every time we want to have the TV on is going to get old real quick so I hope that level of control is available. Plus telling the kids what the code is so they can turn Netflix on if I'm out of the room really defeats the purpose of having the code. We'll have to figure out a solution to that conundrum. Last night when we got in from my softball game they had 20 minutes till bedtime; I wanted to get cleaned up, so I just told them to turn on the DirecTV.

Another cool feature is Netflix keeps a running tab on the home screen as to what you have watched. So if there is a show or movie we particularly enjoyed we can go back to it in our 'Recently Viewed' section instead of having to search for it again, or remember the title. This is a nice feature, especially for the kids. This is also an EXCELLENT accountability tool for an unnamed adult that lives in my house that has to stay up late some nights for his work schedule.... So when "Diary of a Nymphomaniac" showed up yesterday on our 'Recently Viewed' section there were a few words exchanged along the lines of "is that what you want our kids looking at when they are trying to find cartoons?" I don't think we're going to have that problem again.

All and all, so far so good. One issue I know we're going to be dealing with soon is the fact that we have DirecTV in our bedroom. Guess if we decided to stick with Netflix we'll get rid of that TV- which is older than dirt anyway.... I remember my mom watching All My Children on that TV when I was in high school, although honestly that wasn't that long ago. ;)

Feel free to post comments or questions. Have a great weekend!