nwoods
Expedition Leader
2 boys ...19 & 12...
If we are pulling some serious hi-way miles with nothing of note...think Phx - LA then they can watch something classic we can talk about...Pale Rider, Jaws, Twilight Zone and such...something that has alot of cultural references made to it.
The movie has to be paused if there is anything remotely interesting we are passing by or such.
If we are taking backroads or there are things worth looking at out the window then no electronics.
I am fine with reading, map researching and such. I actually think that the hours on the road give a mind quality time to wander and think.
As a family we will listen to books on CD that we get for free from the library...it might be something classic or something for fun. It often leads to great arguements about characters, plots and backstories, but in a fun way.
We do it exactly this way also. The family long distance highway cruiser mom-mobile (Nissan Armada) has a DVD player that is only used on long pavement oriented trips, and seldom at that. Our other vehicles do not have one. Our kids enjoy reading, coloring, entertaining themselves with backseat Bionicle wars, etc...
It's way easier with two or more kids to avoid needing a DVD player, because they can engage themselves in play for hours on end. Lately, my 12 year old son inherited my first gen iPhone (without a phone contract, so it's basically just an iTouch), and they play games on it. I'm not thrilled about it, but we exercise pretty tight control on what music and games they have, and when they can use it as well. Everything is cool in moderation.