New Column: What Did we do Before In-Car DVDs?
There’s a long list of inventions that have made life easier for us moms, and I’m not talking about mankind’s core discoveries such as the wheel, fire and electricity. Instead, I speak of far more important innovations like coffee, epidurals, Velcro, drive-thrus and disposable diapers. In a mommy-centric world, these developments trump Nobel Prize-winning breakthroughs any day of the week… MORE
December 30th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Funny Post, Jenny! But although I feel your pain, one of the things my daughters have always counted on, is that thei mom and dad will never submit to the seduction of the in-car dvd player. With such little time together, having them captive in the car is one of the few times we catch up with each other. Whether it’s listening in on their conversations with each other or friends, parents can learn most about their childrens’ lives within the confines of the family cab. (The driver seems to vanish during rowdy carpools.) Second to the safety of their bedrooms in the cover of darkness to learn their innermost thoughts, drive time presents an opportunity in which we can learn who-is-doing-what within their social circles, (good and bad), how they really feel about persons, places and things and a chance to debate values, politics and the future. My daughters learned to harmonize as babies in their car seats; the ABC game kept them alert for language; seeking out license plates from other states and watching the world go by were mini geography lessons; we learned to appreciate eachothers’ music, and the awkward silences taught the value of quietude. Maybe I would have gotten a player when my kids were your kids’ ages. But as they older, don’t overlook the car as a place to learn the most about your children. In the meantime, mine will have to continue straining to see what the kids in the cars in front of us are watching.
December 30th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
This is so true. Where was my DVD player last week. I do know that they used to say don’t leave your kids in front of the TV too much…but that was a lifesaver for me. The innovations just keep on comin’
December 31st, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Scratch that last reply. I kicked one of my kids out of the car last night. Is that so wrong? When they were littler, I’d quietly pull over to the side of the road until they realized we’d stopped. Scared the hell out of them.
January 3rd, 2010 at 10:18 pm
well, jen, better living through technology! being an engineer, i am sure this idea was given birth by a women engineer somewhere in detroit…..someone who, as a child, endured endless trips,and who, as a mother, knew from experience the rapture and legthened attention span that is only possible with this type of passive vidoe entertainment.
so, today mothers like you, jenny, are enjoy the benefits. but somewhere behind the scene, might be a woman engineer who made it all possible for you!
January 3rd, 2010 at 10:19 pm
oops….typos:
“video” not “vidoe”
“are enjoying” not “are enjoy”
January 4th, 2010 at 7:59 pm
I’m sure it was, men like to invent things like maxi pads and mammogram machines. Puh-lease!
January 4th, 2010 at 8:00 pm
Thanks MOM, it is apparent where I got my addiction to Television!
January 4th, 2010 at 8:01 pm
Who needs to eavesdrop when you can just read their diaries. I mean duh?