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| Apparently, one of the kids had the camera for this one |
Before we had children, my husband and I agreed that DVD players in cars were ridiculous. There is little question that kids today get too much screen time (ours included) and since we survived many childhood roadtrips without movies in the car, we saw no reason why our kids couldn't do the same. This opinion was confirmed when I accompanied a neighbor mom to Cub Scout Day Camp with six nine-year-old boys in a Suburban while they watched a DVD all the way there and back. They were nearly silent for the two-hour round-trip drive. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it, but it was unnatural.
Then our first-born came along. While we still didn't have a need for a DVD player, we did begin to understand that road trips with kids are not idyllic experiences where we sat in the front while our baby gurgled happily from the back seat in her rear-facing car seat. For most of the first year, one of us sat in the back of our Camry keeping the baby happy while the other drove. As she grew older, we downloaded more of her favorite music for the road and brought plenty of toys and books. By the time our second came along, she was an active toddler and we were in the market for a bigger Funmobile.
We knew that our new vehicle would have a DVD player. Why? Because when we looked back on our happy childhood road trips, we remembered lolling about on sleeping bags playing board games in the back of the station wagon. There were no seat belts, let alone five-point-harnesses, that pinned us nearly immobile in a car seat for hours at a time. Also, who says that our parents wouldn't have snapped up a DVD player too, given the chance? In those days, our car didn't have air conditioning either and I don't think anyone remembers that fondly.
That was five years ago and we have never regretted the DVD purchase, but we do have rules and limitations for it. First, my kids don't even ask for a movie when we are driving around town because it's not going to happen. We need to be driving at least 30 minutes on the freeway and even then, they usually get the movie one-way only. Second, the kids either need to agree on a movie or take turns without complaining or we don't need to have a movie at all. Feel the peace and harmony. Third, on a long drive for an overnight trip the DVD player doesn't come on for at least an hour into the drive. The books, toys, music, and enthusiasm for the trip are still fresh then, so we hold off on the movie until the novelty wears off. Also, we usually don't put in one movie after the other, but take breaks in between. Finally, we don't use the DVD player when we are driving in a national park or somewhere scenic. These rules are not cast in stone, but they have helped us to have happier road trips without allowing our kids to miss the whole experience.
Do you have a DVD player in your vehicle?
What are your rules for it?
I often refer to the conversation we had about this where you both made the decision based on the "five-point-harness" seat vs. "lolling" around in the good-old-days. I have to agree with your argument and have used it when discussing it. It's valid. It is a vacation afterall; we don't need to be uptight to the point where we all suffer on the road. Especially since I HATED road trips as a child because of motion sickness. I couldn't read etc... Not that a movie would have helped, but if I could have, Oh, I would have with pleasure, to break up the monotony.
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