Rant: Annoying Chrismercialism Commercial.....

[Catchawave]

Scene: Young family driving, kids are "oldish" elementary school age, fighting in the backseat of the family roadster. Cue: Screaming, hitting, screaming. Parents remain stoic in the front seat.

Voiceover: Buy them a fu*king DVD player for your car.

Scene: Kids happy and smiling watching movies. Parents now smiling in the front seat. DVD installed in backseat solves the problem!

Cue my rant now: Whatever happened to those parents who said "Don't make me pull the car over" ?

What have I missed between allowing my kids to reach adulthood....and this generation of imbecile, clueless parents ?

Sidebar: No offense to any DUers who think family trips include DVD's installed in the backseat, but I seriously suggest you rethink you're parenting decisions. :hug:

[Pithlet]

1. The commercial is dumb, but I don't see anything wrong

with having those DVDs players in the car. I'm sure it makes a long trip go much smoother. You'll be less likely to get to the pull over the car stage in the first place. Besides, instead of "pull the car over" which I don't do anyway because we never spank, you can make them turn off the player if they misbehave.

[Raine]

3. I have one in my car

it's a great thing. I ordered it from a catalogue it plugs into the cigarette lighter.

[fight4my3sons]

34. Me too.

My mom got it for my three sons. I have a three year old and twins who are 18 months old. Their car seats literally line the back seat of my vehicle. They mess with each other constantly. That DVD player keeps peace in the car. They watch Thomas, Sesame Street, Baby Einstein and I can drive in peace. We don't go out often, but when I do I would like to be able to drive without constant fighting in the backseat. It is especially helpful when we visit family back in NY (we live in Maine).

[Catchawave]

4. For some reason.......

I can't relate to you at all. Your kids misbehave if they act up with THE DVD? You need a parental check :hug: Pull the GD car over, fer crissakes, and stop being such a whiner/weiner/pussy parent!!

http://www.theage.com.au/ffxImage/urlpicture_id_1073437344388_2004/01/07/tantrum,0.jpg

[Pithlet]

14. I don't have a DVD player in my car.

My kids actually don't misbehave a whole lot in the car. Just lucky I guess, being a wimpy parent and all.

[GirlinContempt]

18. Yeah, that makes sense

I've worked with a disabled child who, for long trips, had to have SOMETHING. I've seen it keep other kids entertained too, but more as a last resort on long trips.

[LostinVA]

27. I wish we had these when I was a kid

All of those looooooong trips, and reading in the back seat has always made me carsick.

[LeftyMom]

2. I wouldn't want one in the car normally

but I can see bringing a portable unit along on a trip, especially with kids who don't travel well. I've just got one and he's a perfect angel on long car trips (and all it takes to entertain him is to play the radio or talk to him about stuff we drive by) but back when my sister and I were kids I think my Dad would have sold his soul for something to distract us in the car because our usual recreation was bickering.

[Catchawave]

6. Maybe that's my problem Lefty......

...I'm from another generation, and my Dad pulled over ALOT to beat the sh*T out of us on our Family Tripsters.

:groan:

[LeftyMom]

8. Us too

In restropect, I can't say I blame him, Sis and I were positively evil little kids. I think he would've sold a kidney to get a little peace and quiet in the car, especially on long trips. He was a single parent and we had him outnumbered, the poor man.

[ashling]

38. No doubt you deserved it.

:)

[Left Is Write]

11. Ours is always in the car. It's permanently installed.

However, we only use it on our long trips (though I would also use it if we had to wait in the car for any length of time for some reason). It does not get used on short trips around town.

[CatBoreal]

5. I have one in my car...

...we bought used so we didn't have a choice.

We use it sparingly. Frankly, if counting cows was good enough for me on road trips, it's good enough for my kids.

That being said, the DVD player is a lifesaver when we're stuck in traffic. We pop in a Disney Sing-along-Song DVD and away we go.

We don't play regular movies because we find them to distracting, but the music ones are fine.

Forgot to add, it's 7+ hours to our nearest relatives, so it does come in handy.

[Catchawave]

7. Good luck to you too........

I'm still not convinced..shouldn't car trips help our kids (grandkids) learn patience?

I never had singalongs growing up, my kids never had singalongs growing up...so, when do we teach kids, today, how to behave in cars without singalongs ? My point in my OP. Not you Cat :hug:

Edit: Out one of my shouldn'ts :)

[GirlinContempt]

15. My Dad had singalongs

on the way to camp :shrug:

[CatBoreal]

23. We have a series of songs that we sing with the kids...

...mainly Stan Rogers tunes:

Barrett's Privateers
The Mary Ellen Carter
Flowers of Bermuda
Rolling Down to Old Maui

plus

This Kiss - Faith Hill
Romantic Trafic - The Spoons
I'm Blue - Eiffel 59 (???)

As a kid, I remember sitting in the back seat of our forest green Plymouth, going to pick up my father from work, singing Helen Reddy's Delta Dawn with my mom. Just blasting it out at the top of our lungs. It's one of my favorite memories as a child. I wonder what songs are going to invoke that feeling in my girls.

[ChoralScholar]

32. I'd like to place you in a room full of 2 year olds and let you

lecture them about patience.

The DVD has its place, and if people want to use it, leave them the hell alone. You're way out of line with your attacks on other DUers parenting.

[TimeChaser]

9. DVD players are wonderful on 6+ hour trips

[Left Is Write]

10. I have a DVD player in my van and I should rethink my parenting decisions?

No, sorry, I don't think there's anything wrong with having the DVD player in the van.

When we drive from Idaho to Minnesota with our little ones (they are almost 6 and almost 4), it's quite nice to have the DVD player. Have you ever tried to entertain young children for two full days of driving? We have books, drawing pads, small toys, and Magnadoodles. And we have the DVD player. What is wrong with that?

[Catchawave]

12. Rethink your parenting skills then.....

Just saying, :shrug:

No offense, I just think, family trips aren't about what gives mommy (daddy?) the most naptime on these family road trips ?

NEVERMIND THE KIDS ! Fly, fly for chrissakes ! Am I close? *snorK*

[Left Is Write]

13. This post doesn't even make sense to me. Sorry.

[GirlinContempt]

16. Does saying no offense

mean it's OK for you to criticize the parenting of a person you've never even met before?

No offense, but maybe you need to rethink your people skills. You're kind of coming off as a judgemental jerk.

[LostinVA]

28. Seriously...

[GirlinContempt]

31. As in...

you agree?

[LostinVA]

37. AS in... yes.

[eyesroll]

29. How is "rethink your parenting skills" anything other than offensive in

intent?

Jeebus, I don't even HAVE kids, and I'm offended that you equate a DVD player with inadequate parenting skills, Catchawave.

[bleedingheart]

20. I hear ya!

The new Airbus airplanes have TV's for every passenger. When we went to Colorado, I paid $5 a piece to have my kids watch cartoons....guess what they were quiet the entire time!!! Now I am sure the purists would want me to have entertained them for the entire flight but that gets old after a while... My daugther colored and watched TV, my son watched for a bit and took a nap.

When they were smaller I used to bring wrapped presents (Dollar store variety stuff) on the plane...that way when they started to get a bit antsy...they got a little cheap surprise to keep them from annoying the entire flight....

[madinmaryland]

25. Jetblue has had TV's for every passenger for

several years now. Those are the best flights I have ever flown on. Everyone has something to keep them entertained. They also have about 30 channels with enough variety to satisfy everyone.

Way cool!

[bleedingheart]

17. When I take long trips 5 hours or more...we hook up our laptop

to let our kids watch movies.

Aside from that I do not have a TV/DVD combo in my car.

It is hard to be little and trapped in a car for 7 hours in order to get from Pittsburgh to Grand Rapids Michigan....a movie helps.

Now for normal every day commuting and traveling...we do not do that.


ps...our laptop is one of those big screen varieties...so it is even more naughty!!! it's bigger than the standard TV/DVD systems that come with cars.....bwahahahahaha

[bleedingheart]

19. I want to add ...my 73 year old mother thinks they are a lifesaver

cuz when we take her along on vacation (12 hour car ride)...she is happy to have them occupied for at least part of the trip....she has frequently told me..."boy I wish these were around when you were kids..."

My kids will count cars and talk and play...but even when they are home they don't have to sit still for such long periods of time...

[ghostsofgiants]

21. Ummm...

Explain to me again exactly what is wrong with having kids watch a movie during a road trip to keep them entertained?

[mitchum]

22. God forbid the little tyrants read, color, play games, look out the window

[CatBoreal]

24. My children aren't tyrants...

...and they do read, and colour, up until they get carsick and puke all over the backseat.

They also play games, hunt for moose and bears, count cows and horses. But they are 6 and 3 years old, with the attention spans of 6 and 3 year old children, and on a 7+ hour car trip through Erehwon, they get bored, even with the tons of activities that they have available to them.

The DVD player is just another activity. It's not their sole source of entertainment, that would be pushing it in my opinion, but it's an option that's there for them, and for the benefit of our sanity.

[mitchum]

35. I don't think they are...

I was for the most part being facetious. Kids wanting to watch television in a car are really no different from we adults who can be pacified by the screen (a major reason that I don't have television reception in my house:))
My apologies

[WeRQ4U]

26. But our parents didn't have this as an OPTION...

It's makes a difference. You don't know what they would have done if it HAD been. When we were growing up, all there was to do were those lame games, look out the window, color, or generally act like assholes. My parents DID do the "pull the car over" thing. And we DID get spankings when we acted like idiots. But I can ASSURE you that if this option would have been available to my parents, and it was successfull in shutting my sisters and I up for a couple of hours, my parents would have done it.

In my opinion, car rides are for getting from place to place in one piece. And if the easiest way of accomplishing that feat is to keep them occupied, with WHATEVER means is possible, then it's fair game.

[ChoralScholar]

33. I love it...

I call it the "Bach would have USED a piano if he'd HAD one" argument.

Right On!

[Arugula Latte]

30. I think being bored out of your skull in a car for hours

is a childhood rite of passage that no kid should miss.

[CanuckAmok]

36. I agree. But, then, I also feel the same about Whooping Cough.

n/t