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Thursday, April 10, 2008
Does your minivan really need two DVD players?
I must rant.
I was shocked and appalled when I saw the commercial for the latest version of the Chrysler Town and Country minivan.
The Scene: A normal-looking mom, standing with two normal-looking kids, tells a sales dude that they’ll be taking an eight-hour trip.
The horror! Whatever will she do?
Any parent’s reasonable answer? Buy a minivan with two — count ‘em, two — DVD players!
(Click here to see the overindulgent “mother’s helper” in action.)
Your children will never have to interact with one another, or you, again.
Think how proud you’ll be, flying by languid landscapes and breathtaking sunsets. Zipping past roadside Americana and historic landscapes. And all the while, the kids can zone out to the umpteenth showing of both “Alvin and the Chipmunks” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” at the same time. It’s a dream come true!
How quiet your ride will be, and that’s the main goal of a family vacation, isn’t it? Forget all that mumbo-jumbo about “making memories for a lifetime.” Who really needs to see the World’s Largest Teapot, anyway?
Enough venting. Here’s my advice:
Pack a bag. Pack some snacks. Throw in a map and a book or two (for when the kids start crabbing at each other). Load the family into the minivan — the one without even a single DVD player — and head out on the highway.
Talk. Laugh. Sing. Enjoy each other’s company, for heaven’s sake.
Grab life by the gas cap while you still can.
