Whenever I'm talking to another mom, and the subject of cars with DVD players come up, I always walk away from the conversation feeling uneasy. It usually goes like this:
Other Mom: Well, we got a DVD player for the car, but we only use it on long trips.
Me: Yeah?
Other Mom: Yes, there's no way our kids could sit through the monster road trips we take. It would just be cruel.
Me: Really?
Other Mom: Yeah. My (fill in relative here) lives in (fill in city here), so it's been a total life saver.
Me: Oh.
And then there's a weird silence where I suspect I'm now supposed to reveal that we, too, have a DVD player in the car, and credit it for saving the family's sanity on any number of road trips.
But the thing is, we don't have one. Ken is all for it. He is like the unpaid cheerleader for the entire car entertainment system industry. But I'm unconvinced.
Take, for example, this past trip. A 10-11 hour trip to Texas. Which took place during the day, so we couldn't count on children sleeping for the majority of the trip. Four children, two adults, and luggage, all packed neatly into a glorious 2000 Ford Windstar. A 2000 Ford Windstar without a DVD player.
Did the kids wail? Did they gnash their teeth? Beat their breasts and pull out their hair? The hair of their siblings? No on all counts except, understandably, the baby, who did wail, and did gnash his teeth, and did beat his breast. But you know what? We all survived. We listened to books on tape (even the truly dreadful "Magic Treehouse" book. Twice.), we listened to Twilight Zone radio dramas. We played alphabet memory games. The little kids napped, the older kids built a fort in the back seat, and Ken and I listened to our first "Top 40" countdown in well over a decade (it was repugnant).
We got cranky with one another at times. The van is in shocking need of detailing. But, far from somehow damaging the kids by expecting them to make the best use of a long swath of (TV-free) time in a confined space, we made the trip there part of the vacation, part of the adventure, rather than something that slipped by while "The Little Mermaid" played for the 3rd time.
5 comments:
Bravo to you!
Long trips to Florida with your brother strapped in the car/van served you well. And now,your long legged travel ability,is being transfered to your children.
The first time I heard the Magic Treehouse tape, it disturbed me too. O_O And kudos for no DVD player. My parents are of the same conviction. It's always made for interesting cross-country excursions. :)
Cari, we've NEVER had any video distraction for the van. I even drove to WA with the kids several years ago. At times I've wanted one, but an ophthalmologist once told us that it is horrible for eye development for children...destroys their peripheral vision.
there isn't one in my car either!!! :) lol thought i would share. I also drive at night though. lol my children also don't talk back to me very well yet. I get a lot of mama and cracker.
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