Everything is change and adjustment over here right now. A few weeks back we welcomed a fifth family member to our household, and not in any of the ways that may immediately spring to mind. We didn’t get a pet, have a new baby, or adopt a child. Rather my husband’s mom moved in with us.
Having my mother-in-law move in with us has been an amazingly positive experience. Having another adult in the household takes some of the parenting weight off of my shoulders. The kids have another set of eyes to “Watch this!” and “Check out this cool set up I made!”.
My kids call her Bubby, which is a Ukranian nickname for grandmother. The kids are so excited and happy to have one of their favourite family members here twenty-four/seven. There was some concern that having the kids here twenty-four/seven over the summer break might be a bit much for Bubby to handle, but so far it’s been pretty smooth.
One of the main reasons Bubby moved in with us is that she has some mobility issues. She uses a cane to get around and has a really hard time with stairs. So she is strictly living on the main floor of our two-story house. No going upstairs to check out the girls’ bedroom and no forays into the finished basement to watch TV on the couch.
In the evening, once the kids are asleep, I will often go down into the basement and watch TV with my husband. At first, I felt a tiny bit guilty about leaving my mother-in-law “stranded” on the ground floor, while I went downstairs to watch House of Cards. However, it turns out she enjoys the time to herself, spending most of it sitting at the dining room table hanging out on her laptop.
Eventually, we are going to bring the TV from her old house over here and set it up somewhere on the main floor. For the moment we are getting by with tablets and laptops (and grandchildren, oh my!). So it may sound off when I say that one of the first things I did after my mother-in-law moved in was to convince her to cancel her Netflix account.
When I first suggested she cancel her subscription there was this brief moment when she looked at me in panic, as if I was suggesting that we cut one of her lifelines.
“You can share our account”, I explained, “Since you live here now. It would be silly for you to pay for separate access.”
She agreed, but still looked a bit sceptical.
“You can watch at the same time as Moe and I — you can sit and watch it right here on your laptop — and you don’t have to watch House of Cards, you can put on whatever you want.”
Which is pretty cool, when you think about it. Up until now, I haven’t cared about the fact that Netflix allows you to stream to two (or four) screens at the same time. The kids watch TV in the daytime, Hubby and I watch it in the evening — zero overlap. But I had this vague idea that we could potentially be watching simultaneously. So when Bubby moved in with us I logged into my account settings to double check and see just what the options are.
We were already paying for the “middle” streaming plan which includes up to two screens, simultaneously ($9.99 a month for High Definition and 2 Screens). Netflix also offers a cheaper package ($7.99 for Standard Definition and 1 Screen), and a higher end option ($11.99 for Ultra High Definition and 4 Screens).
Setting up a new profile for Bubby was a breeze. You can have up to five different profiles on one Netflix account. While it’s not strictly necessary for each family member to have their own profile, it is nice to get recommendations based on what you personally like to watch (versus, say, how many Peppa Pig cartoons your granddaughter put you through this afternoon).
For us, right now, two screens is plenty — but as the kids get older, I could see wanting to swap to something that allows for more. I love the fact that Netflix can grow as your family does, allowing up to four shows simultaneously streaming from one account.
Perfect for growing families, or for extended multigenerational families like ours.
 | Disclosure: I am a member of the Netflix #StreamTeam, and as such I will be providing thoughts and suggestions about what’s currently showing on Netflix. As always my words and opinions are my own. |
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