Wallee Headrest Mount for the car made me look. Our iPad usually saves long car rides but I oftentimes end up holding it awkwardly between me and my husband on the armrest. Well, Wallee might save the day. Has anyone of you tried it? Kiddo approved?
Wallee Headrest Mount for the car made me look. Our iPad usually saves long car rides but I oftentimes end up holding it awkwardly between me and my husband on the armrest. Well, Wallee might save the day. Has anyone of you tried it? Kiddo approved?
What ever happened to kids just sitting and enjoying the ride quietly? I see kids watching movies on iPads and iPhones at restaurants and grocery stores now… why?!? These kids are so isolated from the world happening around them and I think it’s very unhealthy.
Some of my best memories are the long (very long) car rides we took as a family, cramped and uncomfortable in a car with no air conditioning and only an AM radio for entertainment. It was a shared experience and we were all mentally invested in the same moment. Sitting in the back seat watching the rhythmic waves of the telephone wires passing, I learned to be calm and to think to myself quietly. My imagination ran wild during those long hours, especially because this was still the age of “you can bring one toy.”
Thank god DVD players and iPads never existed when I was a kid, I would feel so robbed of those incredible moments.
Jan 12th, 2012 / 1:26 pm
awesome! now i need a car and ipad
Jan 12th, 2012 / 2:25 pm
@K (Kent), do you have little kids? If so, do you take them on road trips?
Jan 12th, 2012 / 3:03 pm
Yes I do and we take a lot of road trips together. We are an iPad / DVD free car and there is literally no issue at all without them. I find that kids don’t miss what they don’t have so why get them hooked on always having their faces buried in some screen at such an early age? They have a whole lifetime of staring at screens ahead of them, unfortunately.
Sure, TV makes a great babysitter but at what cost? My kids don’t even have video games (the horror) and they simply don’t care. It boggles my mind when I think about what people think they “need” now. Growing up we had nothing and it was awesome!
I’m not saying people with DVD players in their cars are bad parents, I’m simply asking the question why do it? Why do it, other than your own convenience? Childhood zips by in the blink of an eye and I’m so thankful I was a kid in the 70s before all this technology existed. Why miss out on even one amazing moment with your kids? Think about the conversations that will never happen because they have their faces glued to Ice Age for the 30th time.
Jan 12th, 2012 / 4:18 pm
Wow, congratulations Kent. That’s wonderful.
Jan 12th, 2012 / 4:34 pm
@K: exactly the reason why we didn’t opt for a DVD player in our new car. it’s much funner talking to our kids than having their eyes glaze over staring at the boob tube.
Jan 12th, 2012 / 8:05 pm
We have an iPad for movies/games on long trips and we all love it!!! I would love to check this out.
I think everything has its place…the time in the car/plane has to be more than one and a half hours for the iPad to come out, otherwise it’s conversation, songs and observation. K, you’re a friggin hero if you can tolerate five hours of sing songs and are we there yet. The iPad appears to give me, as a driver, a break from the chaos! Perhaps I am the one who needs discipline, not my kid :)
Jan 13th, 2012 / 2:01 am
A very worthy debate. I think with the plethora of educational options as well as the music, etc there’s now a great opportunity for constructive back-seat entertainment presented by the iPad.
Jan 14th, 2012 / 4:53 am
@Alon: Agree, 100%, however, as Kent addressed ealier we mustn’t forget the memorable moments we had as children before these gadgets came about.
Jan 22nd, 2012 / 6:38 am
Interesting research on this subject
http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxRainier-Dimitri-Christakis
Feb 18th, 2012 / 5:03 am