I’m not a huge fan of children watching television on road trips. In fact, even though we recently purchased a Ford F250 with more bells and whistles than I knew existed in an automobile, we opted out of the entertainment system.
“Not necessary” I told the salesman.
I remember saying something like “She can just watch the world pass by” referring to my 3-year old daughter and our travels as full-timers.
It didn’t take long for me to eat my words though.
Giving In and Giving Up
Our first trip over 100 miles was a bit too much for our three year old daughter.
She couldn’t get comfortable enough to take a nap, didn’t want to listen to the radio, and said that she had read all of her books.
We had allowed her to watch Curious George and SuperWhy on the iPad a few times, so it seemed only natural to pacify her with that. The iPad seemed to do the trick, and she had a lot of fun playing with it.
Our second long trip began with the iPad entertainment system and I quickly realized that movies (if properly chosen) were not such a bad thing after all.
One problem was that her favorite movies (Frozen, Curious George, and Charlotte’s Web) were not available on iPad or through iTunes. But we did have the DVDs and a portable DVD player.
To keep her from pulling out the DVDs or dropping the player, we would have to secure it to the truck though.
Bungee Cords Would Work I Bet
Before our third trip (and what would be our longest yet) I sat in the backseat staring at the rear of the passenger seat.
I thought, “Bungee cords would work well. They would offer support and flexibility.”
I took to the Internet, did some searching, and cobbled together a solution that’s inexpensive, safe, reliable, and pretty cool!
But I didn’t use bungee cords, I decided to try Kwiktwists. Let me show you how I used them to mount the portable DVD player.
Step 1: Sit in the back seat, and take one of the twists and put it around the head rest of the front seat as if you’re a mobster in a movie about to strangle the driver.
Bend both ends down behind the driver’s seat.
Step 2: Bend the two tips up to form little hooks. These will cradle the DVD player.
Step 3: Open up the DVD lid and position the bottom into the hooks. Most DVD players won’t open flat (especially if you are using a 12 V power supply or a standard AC supply).
Keep your hand on the player so it doesn’t fall out. It probably won’t just stand up in the “hooks” by itself.
Step 4: Take the second twist and wrap it the opposite way, bracing the center of the DVD player.
Fold the ends around the head rest bars. You can either twist it once around the bars or just tuck the ends in.
Just be sure you make it kind of tight.
Step 5: Using your hands and a little pressure, straighten up the screen so the DVD player is lined up for your little viewer.
Pop in your copy of Frozen and “let it go.”
You’re now ready for any road trip with your 3-year old!
