Movies in the Car? Where was this when I was a kid??
May 7th 2010 14:00
Today we make the five-plus hour trip to see Grandma and Grandpa. It used to take about four, sometimes even less. That was before our son was born, obviously. Even after, for a while. For several months after he was born, he slept through the entire trip. It was great! The drive was just like before, and I could drive like I usually did-with minimal stops and drive-through fast food. Not anymore. Nowadays, my wife can't even sit up front next to me because she has to sit in the back and keep our son entertained. We take a long scenic tour of every rest stop on the way (there are five, in various states of repair and cleanliness), and we actually have to stop to eat. I consider less than five hours in the car making good time. I can only assume this time will go up even more once our next child is born.
This change in driving habits often makes me think of our childhood vacations. My family used to go on vacations every summer, all around the country. We always drove, for years borrowing my grandparents' camper and eventually buying our own camper van. I have two brothers. How do you think we passed the time on the hundreds of miles of highway between destinations? If you guessed singing songs and playing car bingo, I would guess you're an only child. We fought. A lot. Yes, occasionally we played games, admired the scenery, and got along, but that was usually more the exception than the rule. Probably one of my parents' best vacation decisions was getting us all portable cassette players one year. Talk about Christmas in July!
Then, we got our camper van, and suddenly, the entire dynamic of the trips changed. It had a TV in it! With a VCR!!! It was just a little 13 inch TV/VCR combo with poor sound, but to us it might as well have been a 50 inch flatscreen. We didn't fight (except over what to watch), we didn't yell (if you yelled, you couldn't hear the movie), and we arrived at our destinations one big happy family. The TV was especially great on our drive to Alaska (a long, long, long drive from Illinois)...I suspect if we hadn't had it along on that one, there would be three unmarked graves somewhere along the Alaska Highway.
Because of these fond vacation memories, I am a wholehearted supporter of DVD players in the car, whether it's a system that's integrated into the car or just a portable DVD player. You can take it too far-some kids I know watch cartoons on the way from home to school in the morning, and want it on pretty much whenever they're in the car. I think that's a little extreme. If it's a short drive, take the time to talk to your kids. Don't automatically turn on the DVD as soon as the car door closes. But for trips of more than 30 miles or so, flip that baby on. It will help keep peace in the family, and you won't have to hear that familiar dreaded phrase: “Are we there yet?”
This change in driving habits often makes me think of our childhood vacations. My family used to go on vacations every summer, all around the country. We always drove, for years borrowing my grandparents' camper and eventually buying our own camper van. I have two brothers. How do you think we passed the time on the hundreds of miles of highway between destinations? If you guessed singing songs and playing car bingo, I would guess you're an only child. We fought. A lot. Yes, occasionally we played games, admired the scenery, and got along, but that was usually more the exception than the rule. Probably one of my parents' best vacation decisions was getting us all portable cassette players one year. Talk about Christmas in July!
Then, we got our camper van, and suddenly, the entire dynamic of the trips changed. It had a TV in it! With a VCR!!! It was just a little 13 inch TV/VCR combo with poor sound, but to us it might as well have been a 50 inch flatscreen. We didn't fight (except over what to watch), we didn't yell (if you yelled, you couldn't hear the movie), and we arrived at our destinations one big happy family. The TV was especially great on our drive to Alaska (a long, long, long drive from Illinois)...I suspect if we hadn't had it along on that one, there would be three unmarked graves somewhere along the Alaska Highway.
Because of these fond vacation memories, I am a wholehearted supporter of DVD players in the car, whether it's a system that's integrated into the car or just a portable DVD player. You can take it too far-some kids I know watch cartoons on the way from home to school in the morning, and want it on pretty much whenever they're in the car. I think that's a little extreme. If it's a short drive, take the time to talk to your kids. Don't automatically turn on the DVD as soon as the car door closes. But for trips of more than 30 miles or so, flip that baby on. It will help keep peace in the family, and you won't have to hear that familiar dreaded phrase: “Are we there yet?”
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