The Violation Game: Too Much TV

[STINEY]

Re: The Violation Game: Too Much TV

Car people don't buy such "ahem" stuff, they were at the wrong show to truly realize their actual audience. Sad example of business mismanagement.....

Now if they were at a drug-dealer expo somewhere, they would be on the mark.

[JRoberts]

Re: The Violation Game: Too Much TV

Since I first read this post I have had a knawing feeling about the topic. My response also seems now either simply inadequate or worse. Today I took my oldest granddaughter (Just now five years old.) back home after a few days with us with, as she puts it, ?no babies.? Our trip to her house is three hours and this began my thinking about this topic. Of course there was even deeper thinking on the return trip this afternoon.
We had with us Lilly?s parents? little portable DVD player. Yes, the violation was committed for three hours. Actually only about two hours as we spent some of the time doing the kinds of stuff David suggested should be done on trips with kids. We looked for cows and horses, and goats and other various and assorted farm animals. We counted cars of various colors. We ate breakfast on the move. Well, you get the idea. Still a majority of the time was spent with me driving and her riding in the back watching Mickey Mouse saving Christmas and later the first little bit of Cars.
Now, why do I see the DVD player with Lilly a credible way for her to spend her time on the road, when I, and my folks for that matter, did not? I pondered this for the better part of five hours today. I relived the cross country trips my brother and I took in the back seats of various vehicles as kids. I also tried to relive the long trips taken with my own kids in the back of vehicles ranging from a Fiat 850 to various Ford and VW vans. What is different now?
First, I think is simply the availability of these electronic devices. I am sure my wife and I would have had a DVD player if they were available and affordable 25 years ago. Would my parents have indulged us, and themselves, in the same technological excess if 55 years ago it had been both available and affordable? For some reason I cannot answer that one so easily. As I said in my earlier post, my mom really liked putting together stuff for us to do, and the money really wasn't there for a lot of extras.
Then the second thought, or maybe excuse, came to mind. Back in the day, we were not strapped in by seat belts and car seats. We could actually move around. We could turn around to see the color of the car that passed by, we could wiggle, we could reach for dropped toys and pencils and crayons, we could simply relax. Try that in modern child car seats, or even in adult seat belts. I think this makes a big difference. Traveling today with the grandkids I think we stop much more often than we did with our own kids. (I can?t remember how much we stopped when I was a kid, but we were usually on a tight schedule and dad never seemed to have to go to the bathroom!). Today we have to stop simply to give kids time to move and stretch and be kids, not just dolls strapped in the back seat.
So what is the correct response to the DVD violation? I am not sure that my grandkids miss much more than I did at their age when traveling. My granddaughter still talks about the mountains and the big rivers we crossed this summer on our vacation. She was amazed by these and many other things she took in as we traveled almost 3000 miles. Still, it seems awfully ?correct? not to have those little screens starred at by a five year old as we travel, but then what is ?correct?? Heck, I don?t really know, however I do know that it is up to each of us. If we just turn on the movie and never speak to the tykes in the back, I think we have committed a violation indeed. But if the movies, cartoon, etc, are used judiciously, maybe the trip will be even more enjoyable.
I felt a need to write this as I felt my earlier response to this topic was not only inadequate, but a bit rude as well. I'm sorry for that. Thanks.