I don't put rules on how the games are used or not used. At home or camping, we sometimes play a lot of video games and movies, sometimes none. And we run the whole gambit in between.
I don't like to have too much structure on trips. We like to wing it when we go out. The kids have quickly figured out to go with the flow.
One thing I have done is that we tend to do or not do things as a family. If we're gonna play games, we usually all get involved. From the 4 year old, the 8 year old, and the 15 year old. And us grown ups.
And then, sometimes, they watch or play, while the wife and I just sit by the fire. What ever works is my motto.
Sometims just knowing that the video games are there, as an option, if they want to play, is enough, but with camping there is so much else to do that they choose to do other things that are more fun.
Thanks for your input. What my husband and I decided was to use electronics for downtime. But guess what. We put some board games and card games in the RV . Magic Happened. We were in Santa Cruz at the KOA and my boy hung out with kids his own age doing the bouncing pillow , biking etc. He was a only child until his dad married me. I said, "Aaron how about a game of Sorry or checkers and his face lit up. He said yes. We played games for hours and he got to have 1:1 attention with step mom and dad. I made popcorn and drinks and we played games. I was so happy to connect with my new son. Finally an answer I had not thought of board games and card games. The games are staying in the RV for our future trips.
thanks for the update. that is the way it is suppose to work out. You have to be thrilled.
Camping is a time to enjoy the outdoors and your surroundings. If you are going to have someone sit INSIDE the camper on nice days, please don't waste a campsite for those of us that want to enjoy the outdoors!
For us camping is nopt a time to just enjoy the outdoors. Its a time to get away from home, to hang out with the kids, friends and spouse. Sometimes hiking, sometimes being goofy, and sometimes playing video games while sitting in the air. Actually it is a personal choice left up the the person paying for the site. Not the camping neighbors being nosey. If you want to take it up there to nap and play video games without setting foot outdoors, then go for it. If anyone has a problem with it then thats just what it is,.. their problem. Play games, dress in ducky jammies and make microwave popcorn while checking your email on your laptop I dont care, as long as your having fun, following the rules. Personally we take what the kids want and have a great time without worrying about the should I or shouldnt I take this certain thing.
Queen Bee and the Hornets Nest
Jill, Jason, the Boy, 3 Girls and our Poodle Mix, Rascal.
2005 Keystone Hornet 24 RSL
2007 2500 HD CHevy with a duramax.
bnovi1 wrote: Camping is a time to enjoy the outdoors and your surroundings. If you are going to have someone sit INSIDE the camper on nice days, please don't waste a campsite for those of us that want to enjoy the outdoors!
As I saw on another forum,try to find a crotchety friendly campground
We take the WII with us. I look at the WII as more of a family oriented gaming system though. Our DD's are 6 and 5 and DS is 11 months. When we are done with our activities for the day we have played a bit and it's alot of fun for the family. We never actually touch the WII at home so at least it gets some use and at the age they are they aren't really into video games for now. We only got the TT at the end of the season and next year I will have a projector and screen to set it up outside to watch movies at night and play the WII. We moved up from tent camping so we could do things like this. Also all the "camping" I have done in the Army might help with this issue as I always said next time I go "camping" I will be able to build a fire and have some music to hear, ect. If the kids are "glued" to any TV for any reason I'm not for that though.
* This post was
edited 12/11/09 09:52am by chisoxguy13 *
If they want to play video games or watch a movie I let them. They are on vacation, too. It helps them unwind and relax, so I say, "rock on."
When it's time for us to go running around doing other things, they go with us. That's "us" time. When we get back to the camper they can have their "them" time.
They'll have plenty of opportunities in life for people to tell them, "no." I don't want it to be while they're supposed to be having fun on vacation.
Me (69), DW (69), DD (95), DS (00), DS (01) and 1 camping toy fox terrier (08)
06 Aerolite Cub 23BH, '00 Chevy Suburban LT 1500
We bring a portable DVD player for our 4-year-old daughter. Car rides before we got it were unbearable with her fussing, now she is placated in 2-hour stretches. I'm sure our son, age 1, will be the same way.
The TV is like a drug to children, of this I am certain, and this is why we limit TV watching for our kids to weekends-only when at home. When they watch TV you can tell they are completely zoned out and mesmerized. I don't think this is healthy, and there are many studies now that indicate that TV is not good for young children. I feel somewhat guilty about using the "digital pacifier" while we are on trips but my God it has decreased the stress level while driving by 1000%, so I'm for it.
We do not "camp" in the traditional sense, in that we use our RV as a portable house when we travel to weekend historical reenactments. It's a place to eat, sleep and $hit, other than that we are busy with the weekend's reenactment activities.
We have not encountered the video game problem yet, but I have watched other people's kids at reenactment events sitting around the camp site with their hand-held gaming units, and they are completely unplugged from what is going on around them. Plus it detracts from the reenactment atmosphere, but that is another subject.
So I tend to be on the side of "no video games while camping".
That said, when I was about 15 and was invited by the neighbor kid to go to the mountains, we snuck his entire TI/994A computer system in our luggage. His parents were not excited to discover this.
I grew up as a teenager around computers, and took to them like a duck to water. They sculpted my entire life, and my career. I believe there is a LOT to be gained by being exposed to computers, and not just computer games. The computer is now the ultimate portal to the world and all of its knowledge, for good and ill, and you are not doing any child any service by barring them from it. I believe technology must be embraced, or they will fall behind in a world that is dominated by technology. Doing this in a healthy manner is going to be the trick. I do not have the answer for this.
I also believe, as others have stated, that forbidding things makes them more inviting. My parents, who both smoked and drank, told me that if I ever wanted a drink or a cigarette that I would be stupid, but to sit down with them and have one. They said they would rather me do it at home in the open than trying to sneak it behind the barn. To this day I do not smoke and I hardly ever drink. I can clearly remember other kids as I grew up for whom sneaking a drink or smoke was the ultimate in coolness and I remember how I thought they were making such a big deal over nothing - because for me it was nothing.
As for illegal drugs my father made it quite clear that if I was ever involved with them he would turn me over to the police and not get me out of jail, and if I was arrested outside the home he would likewise not get me out of jail. I believed him then and I believe him now.
As for video games being addictive, yes they are, and I know this from personal experience. I have been playing "Call of Duty" since the first game came out in 2003. I play it extensively online against other players and have played hundreds of hours. Each "map" is typically played in 20 minute blocks and when you sit down to play a map, after the first one you just feel warmed up and want one more. Then you play another and you are doing well so you want just one more. Then you play another and the next thing you know an hour just went by. It was consuming enough of my evenings that my wife felt neglected in our relationship (and she was right).
The trap of these games is that they feed a false sense of accomplishment, and fuel a need to accomplish. For example, if you achieve certain "skills" in Call of Duty you gain rank. Or you unlock new weapons. Or you simply have the highest kill score for the match. This false sense of accomplishment is highly addictive. When you do it you really feel like you have accomplished some major task. But the reality is that you just wasted hours of your life accomplishing nothing.
Now I'm an adult who was 33 when I started playing Call of Duty. If I can fall into self-control issues with video games I have no doubt that kids can, too.
Technology has evolved in light-years since I was a teenager with my first computer. The fantasy of Dick Tracy's wristwatch and Star Trek's communicator are today's reality. We live in a world of instant, though often detached and anonymous-feeling communication. The decades to follow will no doubt leapfrog today in much the same way.
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