Silence

We bought our minivan when Andy was 10 months old. That whole process is a story in itself, but I don't want to rehash that now. When we bought that car there were only two features that I really wanted. The six CD changer, so I could switch easily between my music and Andy's music, and leather seats. We knew we were going to have more kids, and we would run that minivan to the ground, so I wanted seat covers that were going to last and hold up to anything. I am thankful almost everyday that we made that decision, because those leather seats are the only thing that keep that car from looking like a garbage dump.

When you buy a car, all the extras come in packages. If you want the leather seats then you also have to get all these other things that you didn't necessarily want, like the DVD player. We saw no need for a DVD player. Our kid could look out the window just like we did, he didn't need constant entertaining. However, if we wanted the leather seats we had to get the DVD player.

We didn't even use it at first. After awhile we would put in an occasional Sesame Street DVD if we were on a long drive, but it wasn't very often. Of course, after awhile, it was on all the time. We credit Andy learning to read at such an early age from the Leap Frog videos he watching in the car, so it wasn't all bad.

Andy was happy, he got to watch tv. However, once Sarah was about 18 months old we were a little more careful about what he watched. We didn't want him watching anything that would scare her like some of his creepy Scooby-Doo shows. As Sarah got older we went through the "you pick one, then he picks one" form of taking turns, but it got progressively more difficult to even do that. We would start to watch something Andy picked but then he would get out of the car to go to school all day. Sarah was with me and wanted to watch something else. If we forgot to put Andy's movie back in the car when we picked him up from school there was lots and lots of fighting.

About six months ago I just stopped letting the kids watch the DVD player. I couldn't stand the arguing anymore. I hate all the yelling they do anyway, but when they do it in a small, cramped space it drives me batty. Every couple of weeks or so they would ask if they could watch a movie, but I always told them no. As far as I was concerned it wasn't going to be used again.

Then one day Charlie was in the car with Amanda. He put in an Elmo DVD and she, of course, loved it. Sarah is also now on the Sesame Street bandwagon, so she wants to watch them too. Andy is just so excited to be able to watch tv in the car that he doesn't complain. He knows better. Plus, he watches tv like I do. Once it's on, it doesn't matter what the show is, it sucks him in and he can focus on nothing else. It's not a trait I am proud of, but impressive nonetheless.

The best benefit of all from Elmo invading the minivan? Complete and utter silence when we are in the car. Well, except for Amanda screaming "ELMO" whenever Elmo comes in the picture. But otherwise, not a peep. No fighting or whining or antagonizing or yelling at each other or me. Just three happy kids and one calm Mommy bopping down the road to the tune of "Elmo's World". Ahhhh!