During the summers of my childhood, my mother designated each night of the week with a different activity: Tuesdays were game nights, Thursdays were family walk nights, and so on. Fridays were for movies. We’d pile into my mother’s Land Cruiser and drive to the Blockbuster in Cleveland Park to squabble over the marquee selection. (We were there so frequently, she knew the cashiers by name.) I recall many viewings of “Little Giants,” “The Parent Trap,” and “Sandlot,” along with “E.T.” and “Grease.” We also tore through “I Love Lucy” episodes, and indulged one of my sister’s (curious?) obsession with the Three Stooges. She found the slapstick so hilarious, she’d melt off the sofa into a puddle of laughter on the sun room floor. Her joy was contagious. And so I came to have an abiding affection for Larry, Curly, and Moe, and their silver-gray hijinks on a Friday night.

My children are now approaching an age where Friday summer movie nights seem feasible. My children typically go to bed early — my son around 7:30, my daughter around 8 — and they need all of their sleep, or we pay for it in the morning, as we frenetically expedite them through pre-drop-off routines. (My husband tells me he dreads the mornings he must rouse them from sleep. Usually, they rise on their own around 6:30 — but mornings where we need to creep in and wake them are bound to be torture on all parties.) Their feistiness and recalcitrance swell in inverse proportion with the amount of sleep they’ve logged the night prior. But in the summer, camp starts later, or there’s no camp at all, and it’s not the end of the world if you’re late for camp anyhow. Mornings open up slowly, easily. And bedtimes are similarly forgiving. Longtime readers may remember that I experimented with “an 80s childhood summer” two summers ago — meaning, I sought out an unstructured, backyard sprinkler, popsicles dripping on the porch, dirt under the nails kind of experience for my children. We enrolled in minimal camps and traveled lightly. Let me speak plainly: it did not pan out. We were in each other’s hair all summer long, and I was not at my best as a mother. In retrospect, they were a bit young (3 and 5) for my ambitions. Last summer, I swung the pendulum too far in another direction: we had them in back to back weeklong camps. This proved to be a lot for my children, and I remember a distinct flagging feeling in late July/early August that I came to call “camp fatigue.” I had underestimated how draining it would be to figure out a different drop-offs, regulations, camp dynamics each week, and had not adequately thought about how taxing it might be for them to plop into a new setting, with new teachers, new rules, and new camp friends, each week. This year, we’re only doing two three-week-long camps and have nothing on the calendar for August–a source of mild to moderate midnight frisson, if I’m honest. But they are older, and it’s their summer, too. We all need time to do nothing at all — kids included. This map of the months ahead may better explain my mantra for the summer: go easy.

Anyhow – part of my “go easy” plan involves summer movies for the entire family, and part involves re-watching some of my favorite summer films after the children have gone to bed. Below, sharing a few of my top “big popcorn” picks for (adult / older kid) summer enjoyment:

“Jurassic Park”

“The Great Outdoors”

“Bull Durham”

“Jaws”

“Dirty Dancing”

“Back to the Future”

“Dances with Wolves”

“Wyatt Earp”

“Mystic Pizza”

“A League of Their Own”

“Varsity Blues”

“Can’t Hardly Wait”

“Speed”

“Top Gun” (new and old!)

“The Princess Bride”

“Lost City” (a spoof of sorts, but I really enjoy this movie)

“Wet Hot American Summer”

“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”

I’ve also been re-watching “The Summer I Turn Pretty” while drifting off to sleep this week, and it’s setting the table for summer in a major way.

What other movies feel like summer to you?

Post-Scripts.

+What were the first movies / books that made a deep impression on you as a child?

+Ladybird really did a doozy on me.

+Under the radar romantic comedies.

+Movies I could watch over and over again.

Shopping Break.

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through the links below, I may receive compensation. 

+Julia Amory released her wildly popular Betty dress in the perfect blue pattern — I ordered immediately.

+Love the idea of this striped hoodie for chilly summer nights.

+Doen’s new gingham mini is adorable.

+I’ve lost track of the number of little boys I’ve given this Schleich playset to. My son owns it and loves it — something about the working helicopter rotor and the tug rope that can be pulled in or out. (My go-to gift for seven year old girls here.)

+If you’re thinking ahead to FOJ travel plans, Minnow’s just-launched new collection has the entire family covered — cutest boardies and rash guards, plus adorable daytime attire, like this sweet dress. (More cute swim for children here.)

+If you like the Minnow sailor dress but are looking for something less expensive — consider this!

+Cute FOJ option for you. And an under-$50 option. So cute!

+Just ordered this cute sunglasses chain.

+My joveralls are back in stock in all sizes! I just cut the hems off mine (they run long, and I’m 5’0) and love the raw hem look. Pair with a fun sandal like this.

+A backpack cooler for beach days! So clever.

+Learned just last weekend you need a clear bag to go into Nats Stadium, or a very small flat clutch. I ended up taking my Celine phone sling but it was kind of annoying not to be able to fit anything else in there (you can fit a phone plus ID/credit card and maybe a flat key). Eyeing something like this or this for my next go around! (PS – How cute is this clear pouch for a little lady?)

+Can’t stop thinking about this Gucci bag.

+Simple but spectacular evening gown, in either colorway.

+Eyeing these cute quilts for our bunks upstairs.