I am not sure why I began watching Hallmark Christmas movies. About two years ago, I was looking for something to watch while I finished homework. I was a sophomore college and was dreading going back to school after a nice weekend at home. I had heard about a movie having its encore presentation on at 6 p.m. It was called The Christmas Ornament. From that day on I never looked back. They premiere at least 12 movies a year during the holiday season alone and start near Halloween. What more could you want? I began telling everyone about them. My grandma and I spent 72 hours watching them once. They may be cheesy, but let me tell you why you should watch them.

1. They are feel good stories.

They may have some heavy themes such as loss or heartbreak, but they will leave you happier than you were before you began watching. The holiday season is about feeling the love right?

2. They are family friendly.

I don’t know about you, but I am tired of stories centered around sex, violence, and other themes in mainstream media. They are wholesome and you can never go wrong with that.

3. They are on 24/7.

They may interrupt with Home and Family at 10 a.m., but other than that, you can catch a holiday movie at any time. I often find myself wanting to watch a Christmas movie, but either get cheated by Harry Potter weekend or a special I don’t care for. And at 3 a.m.? Only Hallmark.

4. They are short.

With commercials they run at two hours, but overall they are about 87 minutes. I would know because I own four on DVD. I get bored in two+ hours movie, which are common nowadays.

5. They move quickly.

Not only are you not bored, but also they move quickly. You are able to be sucked in and before you know it, it is over.

6. They play them until New Year's Day!

This is important because the day after Christmas is always depressing. You wouldn’t know that the previous day was Christmas because radio stations stop playing carols and any other channel stops the movies. BUT HALLMARK DOES NOT!

7. You won’t get bored.

They will replay movies, especially their new ones. This does not take away from the fact that they have so many that you won’t come anywhere close to seeing them all. That means you won’t get bored. And if they do replay one you don’t like, that’s when you pop Elf into the DVD player.

8. They contain some good looking actors.

They contain quite a few handsome men and beautiful women. It does not hurt to look at beautiful people while watching your movie. I mean this in the most innocent way.

9. They get you into the holiday spirit.

You will want to pick out your tree or build a snowman. I definitely have my share of Christmas season goals based on Hallmark movies.

10. They make good memories.

If you enjoy the movie, you will remember where, when, and with who. My grandmother had a stroke back in February, but Hallmark movies are something we used to and still bond over. I can sit down and watch one with her. We can laugh, smile, or cry together. As I said before, we watched them for 72 hours and I have no regrets.

So turn on Hallmark and give one 10 minutes. They start on all the even hours of the day…just in case you were wondering!