Home > Blogs > Adventures in Motherhood > Archives > 2008 > April > 10 > Entry
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.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment |
Comments
By amy
April 14, 2008 2:23 PM | Link to this
I spent days and days driving cross country with my brothers in a station wagon. There is only so much sibling time one can spend together. This was in the 70’s…long before dvds…video games..etc…but I have a DVD player in my van and once we move and will be taking longer trips I will probably buy another portable for the teens so in the back they could watch their movies instead of watching Barney with my three year old. Look…there is really only so much bonding you can do..that runs out after about 500 miles. So it gives a little peace and quiet..no biggie..better than.. ” he is looking at me…she is breathing on me.. she is on my side of the seat “..blah ..blah..and that is how it always went for me and my brothers. I say if you can afford the van with two dvd players…good on ya ;)By LucyB
April 12, 2008 2:13 AM | Link to this
Bill: The most important motherly advice my mother ever gave me was “Never wake a sleeping baby.” So, no, I never “shake my kids awake” for anything but school. And it just so happens that I do have an almost-13-year-old and an almost-3-year-old who managed to survive a 2,000-mile road trip last summer without a single DVD player. (The oldest even forgot his iPod in Vermont, but made it back to Ohio alive without it.) They used Legos, books, journals and drawing pads in their downtime. We also enjoyed Sirius radio music and programs together. And yes, I am blogging just to be blogging. What other reason would there be? When someone starts off a blog with the line “I must rant,” I think it’s reasonably safe to assume that a rant will ensue. ;)By Bill
April 11, 2008 12:02 PM | Link to this
Oh, come on. So on long trips do you shake your kids awake when they doze off so you can “make memories” with them. Get real. No one is saying the kids should be glued to the DVD screen for the entire drive, but some quiet downtime is always good for all involved. And not everyone has their kids in 18-month intervals. So if you have, say, an oldest who is 13 and a youngest who is 3, a two-screen setup is perfect because the 13-year-old isn’t going to watch “Barney” and the 3-year-old shouldn’t be watching “Pirates.” Sometimes I think you’re just blogging to be blogging. You need to think about what you write before you go popping off.By Momofcollegekids
April 10, 2008 4:50 PM | Link to this
AMEN sister! Time goes by way too fast to spend every waking moment in front of a TV or video game.This over-indulgence makes me sick.This is part of what’s wrong with our society, not enough face to face spent with our own children….stick them in front of a TV or video game and let them raise themselves. It’s bad enough that most people no longer have the family meal, but now take away all conversation in the car???Even when my kids were teenagers and the radio or CD was on in the car, we would talk about the music playing or anything else that happened in their day.