I try to limit the amount of television my kids watch, although they do indeed watch some almost every day. In a perfect world we wouldn’t watch any television, but since my world is far from perfect there are times when the kids win in their quest to get the TV turned on.

Although my kids get to watch some commercial-free TV at home, I draw the line at getting a TV screen installed into the car. I see far too many families driving around our city with the kids glued to the TV that’s going on in the back of the minivan. The parent who is driving isn’t engaging the kids in talking, the kids aren’t glancing outside of the car or looking through books, and all in all I’m sure it’s a quiet ride…but a potentially mind-numbing one.

My kids were allowed to watch TV in the car for one trip, and that was an eight hour drive. They didn’t watch the TV for the entire time and I was actually pretty happy on the return trip when the portable DVD player stopped working and we were all forced to talk about the things we saw outside. I have nothing against watching movies on long rides, but really…do we need to turn the TV on for the ride home from the grocery store? How are parents finding out about their kids’ days if they flip on the TV the second they pick them up from school or daycare?

Don’t families talk in the car anymore?

I try to take advantage of somewhat long drives by playing different types of music and having the kids compare them. Even when my kids were very young babies I tried to talk to them about the things that were out the car window and enjoy music while in the car. I don’t want my kids plugged in all the time. I want them to be able to enjoy their surroundings and use their imaginations.